CHINIOT: A vast majority of people who had claimed to be deprived of flood compensation, turned out ‘ghost applicants’ during a scrutiny, says Punjab Cooperatives Secretary and In-charge of flood compensation disbursement in Chiniot district, Babar Hayat Tarar.

He said the people who had claimed to be deprived of compensation, were asked to file their applications. Out of 9,654 applications received, 5,235 were scrutinised and 99.9 per cent of them turned out fake as the claimants did not suffer losses at all during flood.

He said the chief minister had visited to the area on Friday last where a large number of people lodged a protest and claimed that they were denied compensation. At this, the chief minister had directed the administration to invite applications. He said 12 scrutiny committees were formed to verify credentials of the claimants. He said out of 5,235 applications scrutinised, only two cases were found correct. According to the findings, a farmer got compensation for four acres against his claim of seven acres while another one’s land lay in the river and his case was being probed.

He said documentary proof of the ‘fake’ applicants along with photographs and videos had also been attached with files for further action.

Chiniot District Coordination Officer Dr. Irshad Ahmad said 92 per cent (Rs540 million) of payment had been made under a transparent mechanism.

Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2014