Jodhpur accident: State govt announces Rs 10 lakh relief for families of deceased

Jaipur: The Rajasthan government on Monday announced financial assistance of Rs 10 lakh each for the families of the 15 people who died in the road accident in Jodhpur's Matoda area, officials said.

The announcement was made by Additional District Collector Anjum Tahir at the Mahatma Gandhi Hospital mortuary in the presence of family members of the victims and community representatives.

"Each deceased person's family will receive Rs 10 lakh as compensation apart from Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund. If three or more than three people in a family died, then a maximum of Rs 25 lakh compensation will be provided. The injured will receive Rs 2 lakh from the state government and Rs 1 lakh from the district administration," he said.

Following the announcement, community leaders and family members of the victims ended their sit-in protest at the hospital, and the bodies were handed over to the relatives after postmortem examination.

Fifteen people were killed and two others were injured, all residents of Nainchi Bagh near Chandpol in Jodhpur, on Saturday evening when a tempo carrying devotees from Bikaner's Kolayat temple rammed into a stationary tanker on the Bharat Mala Highway near Matoda in Phalodi.

The injured are currently undergoing treatment at Jodhpur's Mahatma Gandhi Hospital.

Earlier in the day, several community members and relatives of the deceased gathered outside the mortuary demanding enhanced compensation of Rs 25 lakh per victim, Rs 5 lakh for the injured, and one government job per family.

Senior Congress leader Karan Singh Uchiyara, who visited the site, expressed grief over the tragedy and criticised the administration over their response.

He said members of the community blocked the Railway Station Road in protest, demanding their conditions be accepted.