Out of 10,29,517 registered cases claiming compensation, 5,74,376 have been awarded compensation after adjudication, said Minister of Chemical and Fertilizers, Srikant Kumar Jena.
"A total sum of Rs. 15500.9 million (Rs.1549.19 crore) has been disbursed in 5,73,920 cases upto 31.3.2012. A further sum of Rs. 15105.3 million (Rs.1510.53 crore) has been paid as pro-rata compensation to 5,62,789 of these cases upto 31.3.2012, as per the orders of the Supreme Court. In the remaining 11,587 cases, pro-rata amount is yet to be disbursed," said Srikant Kumar Jena in Lok Sabha on Thursday.
In a statement by the ministry, it also claimed that the remaining claimants have not approached the Welfare Commissioner's office for receiving the compensation.
Stating that the process of payment of compensation is in progress, he said: "A list of remaining claimants was notified in newspapers advising the claimants to approach the Welfare Commissioner to receive compensation."
"Besides this, this list was also supplied to the NGOs as per the directions of the Hon'ble Supreme Court. An application filed in the Supreme Court by the Welfare Commissioner for treating the absentee cases as closed is pending decision," he added.
The infamous toxic gas leak incident of the Union Carbide India Limited (UCIL) Bhopal, which is one of the worst industrial catastrophe in the world, happened inn December 1984.
UCIL was the Indian subsidiary of Union Carbide Corporation (UCC), with Indian Government controlled banks and the Indian public holding a 49.1 percent stake.
In the catastrophe, around fourty tonnes of methyl iscocyanate, a highly volatile toxic chemical, contaminated water and the environment. As a result, a mixture of deadly gases escaped from the factory, killing about 20,000 people over the years due to the gas leak.
Aftermath of the result, many were deformed for life and many children born with diformity due to the toxic effect.
Seven ex-employer of UCIL were convicted by a lower court in Bhopal for negligence that caused many deaths.
