The administration has been instructed to incorporate suitable economic criteria and residency safeguards to prevent misuse.

SAHAS Scheme: Chandigarh’s Acid Attack Survivors Get INR 10k Aid Approval

The Government of India has approved the "SAHAS-Support and Assistance for Healing Acid Survivors" scheme. Under the policy, monthly financial assistance of INR 10,000 will be provided to acid attack survivors in Chandigarh.

Information regarding this approval was placed before the Punjab and Haryana High Court during the hearing of a contempt petition filed by advocate HC Arora. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has officially notified the Chandigarh UT Chief Secretary that the competent authority has granted its approval for the financial assistance scheme.

However, the Centre directed that instead of launching a new independent scheme, this aid should be made a separate component of existing initiatives, such as the UT Victims Assistance Scheme 2012 or the Pension to Persons with Disabilities.

The administration has been instructed to incorporate suitable economic criteria and residency safeguards to prevent misuse, with benefits transferred strictly through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). The budget will be met from available resources.

Under the draft policy, applicants must submit a disability certificate, FIR copy, Aadhaar card, and proof of residence. Applications are to be processed within a month, with payments commencing the following month. 

The approval follows allegations by advocate HC Arora in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that the Chandigarh administration had failed to fulfil an earlier commitment. He said that while Punjab has been providing an INR 10,000 monthly pension to survivors since 2016, Chandigarh had yet to match those relief standards."

Source: The Tribune