Disaster occurred during the night of 2nd /3rd December, 1984.
The Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Processing of Claims) Act, 1985 came into force on 20.02.1985 including Bhopal Gas Leak Disaster (Registration and Processing of claims) Scheme, 1985.
Office of the Welfare Commissioner, Bhopal Gas Victims, Bhopal (O/o WC) was set up in 1985.
On directions of the Hon’ble Supreme Court, Union Carbide Corporation, USA deposited a compensation amount of US$ 470 million in February, 1989.
Original Compensation
Adjudication and disbursement of compensation commenced in November, 1992. O/o WC disbursed Rs.1549.33 crore to 5,73,959 claimants out of total 5,7 4,394 till 31.7.2024.
The year-wise original compensation paid to Bhopal Gas victims from 2018-19 onward is as under:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 98,250.00 |
| 2019-20 | 1,28,309.00 |
| 2020-21 | 7,800.00 |
| 2021-22 | 10,000.00 |
| 2022-23 | 5000.00 |
| 2023-24 | 91800.00 |
| 2024-25 (up to 31.7.2024) | 25000.00 |
Pro-rata Compensation
It was brought to notice in the year 2OO4 that an amount of approximately Rs.1500 crore, had accumulated with the Reserve Bank of lndia on account of accrual of interest and exchange rate variation.
The Supreme Court vide order dated 19th July, 2OO4 had directed the Welfare Commissioner to disburse the said amount, on pro-rata basis (in the ratio of 1:1 of original compensation) to the claimants whose cases had been settled.
A sum of Rs.1 ,517.37 crore has been disbursed to s,63,10g claimants as prorata compensation till 31.07.2024. The disbursal of pro-rata compensation is still continuing.
The year-wise Pro-rata compensation paid to Bhopal Gas victims from 2018-19 onwards, is as under:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 5,06,750.00 |
| 2019-20 | 5,90,417.00 |
| 2020-21 | 4,89,585.00 |
| 2021-22 | 1,92,918.00 |
| 2022-23 | 3,29,337.00 |
| 2023-24 | 3,08,453.00 |
| 2024-25 (up to 31.7.2024) | 25000.00 |
Ex-gratia Compensation
Based on the recommendation of erstwhile Group of Ministers (GoM) in June, 2010, Cabinet approved in the year 2010, disbursement of ex-gratia to the following categories of Bhopal gas victims at the rates indicated:
| Category | Scale of Ex-gratia |
|---|---|
| Death | Rs.10 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
| Permanent disability | Rs.5 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
| Temporary disability | Rs.1 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
| Cancer | Rs.2 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
| End Stage Renal Disease | Rs.2 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
| Injury of utmost severity | Rs.5 lakh (amount of original and pro-rata compensation received, to be adjusted) |
Disbursement of ex-gratia to the Bhopal Gas victims commenced on 19112t2010 under the categories of Death, Permanent disability, lnjury of utmost severity, cancer cases, Total Renal Failure cases, and Temporary disability cases. Cases of Cancer and Total Renal Failure cases added for ex-gratia payment as per decision of Cabinet
A sum of Rs. 874.28 crore was allocated for payment of ex-gratia to estimated number of 63,819 gas victims. Additional amount of Rs.61 .72 crore was sanctioned during 2019-20 for additional 3,629 cases. Further in February, 2021 an amount of Rs.4.50 crore was sanctioned for additional 300 cases under ESRD category. 2000 cancer and 500 Total Renal Failure cases were sanctioned in 01 .09.2022.
A sum of Rs. 890.07 crore has been awarded in 53,316 cases till 31.07 .2024. No cut-off date has been set for receiving applications under Cancer and ESRD category. The disbursal of ex-gratia compensation is still continuing.
The year-wise Ex-gratia Compensation paid to Bhopal Gas Victims from 2018-19 onwards, is as under:
| Year | Amount |
|---|---|
| 2018-19 | 15,13,33,712.00 |
| 2019-20 | 17,69,20,609.00 |
| 2020-21 | 9,21,51,266.00 |
| 2021-22 | 11,74,87,954.00 |
| 2022-23 | 14,38,93,057.00 |
| 2023-24 | 8,46,60,581.00 |
| 2024-25 (up to 31.7.2024) | 2,26,93,681.00 |
Status of pending compensation cases as on 31.07.2024 is as under:
| Compensation | Total awardee cases | Total disbursed cases | Pending cases | Reasons for pendency of cases |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original | 574393 | 573958 | 435 | Those victims, who did not appear before the Tribunals to receive compensation for one or the other reasons, did not get compensation, whereas, O/o WC Bhopal has issued notices through post and also published the same in Newspapers and circulated in other media. |
| Pro-rata | 574394 | 563108 | 11286 | |
| Ex-gratia | 53316 | -- | 10808 | Applications claiming ex-gratia under cancer/ ESRD categories are continuously received in the O/o WC, as no cut-off date for receipt of applications has been fixed so far. |
Original Compensation and pro-rata amount spent and balance amount available
| Compensation | Amount |
|---|---|
Original Compensation | Rs. 1549.33 Cr. |
Pro-rata compensation | Rs. 1517.37 Cr. |
Balance amount available in RBI | Rs. 56.92 Cr. |
No. of Court cases pending in District Courts/HC/SC
| Court | No. of cases ( as on 31.07.2024) |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court | NIL |
| High Court | 15 |
| Revisional Court | 477 |
| District Court | 124 |
Budgetary status from 2018-19 onwards(Rs. in crore)
2018-19 - BE - 28.32 , RE - 21.31 , Actual - 20.98
| 2019-20 | 2020-21 | 2021-22 | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BE | RE | Actual | BE | RE | Actual | BE | RE | Actual | BE | RE | Actual | BE | RE | Actual | BE | RE | Actual |
| 21.42 | 27.95 | 23.61 | 31.80 | 21.43 | 18.93 | 22.06 | 18.53 | 18.12 | 23.08 | 22.83 | 21.07 | 23.40 | 18.03 | 16.41 | 25.35 | - | 4.76 (Till 30.07.2024 |
Justification for continuation of O/o WC Applications claiming ex-gratia under cancer/ESRD categories are continuously received in the O/o WC, as no cut-off date for receipt of applications has been fixed so far. Further, in pursuance of the Cabinet decision dated 24th June, 2010, a Curative petition has been filed by Govt. of India in 2010 seeking enhanced compensation for the victims of BGLD. The matter is sub-judice.
