Financial assistance: Compensation cheques handed to 106 families of APS victims

Official says parents are too grieved to worry about being paid

PESHAWAR: The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has so far compensated 106 families of children killed and injured in the attack on Army Public School (APS) on December 16 last year.

More than 150 people including 132 children lost their lives in the savage assault, while more than 130 others were injured. A K-P government official told The Express Tribune on the condition of anonymity that they have handed over cheques to the bereaved families of 90 slain children along with the families of 16 injured students.

He, however, refused to provide the list of families to be compensated, claiming parents had requested them not to do so. "Family members are hesitant. They are too grieved to worry about receiving cheques," he said.



The official claimed a team of the district administration met the families one by one and tried to convince them to accept the financial compensation. He added most of the families earlier refused to accept the money. "After a number of meetings, parents and guardians have agreed to accept the cheques."

He said the government wanted to compensate all the victims of the APS assault, but were facing hurdles in compiling the data. He added the responsibility of data collection has been handed to the revenue department.

Meanwhile, K-P chief khateeb Qari Rohullah Madani told The Express Tribune the provincial government should review its procedure of providing compensation to affected families. "Most families do not want to come in front of the media at the time of compensation, while the government pushes for publicity to highlight its performance."

Madani explained the provincial government should also set up an emergency fund to compensate victims of floods and earthquakes as it does for victims of terrorism.

The chairperson of the Department of Psychology at University of Peshawar, Irum Irshad, said some parents were in denial. "They feel their children will come back."

Published in The Express Tribune, January 20^th, 2015.