On the evening of November 10, Shania Parveen, 23, was excitedly shopping for her wedding at Chandni Chowk, near the historic Red Fort, in old Delhi. By late evening, she was in a hospital following a blast that ripped through the area, leaving her almost deaf.
Nearly three weeks later, the once-vibrant lanes of Chandni Chowk are back to business -- almost. But Ms. Parveen has lost not just her hearing but also her job. She recently received a message from her employer that the private company, where she was working as an accountant, won’t be able to retain her services since she has not been able to go back to work.
Doctors at the Lok Nayak Hospital, where she is undergoing treatment, told her a surgery could help her regain her hearing abilities but Ms. Parveen doesn’t know where the money for that would come from. With an ailing father at home and no clarity on any compensation from the government, Ms. Parveen, like several other survivors of the Red Fort blast, is struggling to make ends meet.
A day after the blast, Delhi’s Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, in a social media post, had announced that the families of those who lost their lives in this incident, will be given an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh each. The Chief Minister also said that the permanently disabled individuals will receive ₹5 lakh, and seriously injured people will be provided ₹2 lakh. The Minister also said that the State government will take responsibility for “proper and quality treatment of the injured”.
