Itanagar, October 19: Over 50 years after lands were acquired by the Indian Army, villagers in Arunachal Pradesh have finally been compensated. Despite the unprecedented delay, the beneficiaries are finally satisfied with the amount sanctioned to them by the Centre.

Prem Dorjee Khrimey, a resident of Tukpen village in West Kameng district, has emerged as the biggest beneficiary, with a cheque of Rs 6.31 crore handed over to him by Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday. Arunachal Pradesh Ranked 4th in Cleanliness Ranking: CM Pema Khandu.

In neighbouring Singchung village, two residents - Phuntso Khawa and Khandu Glow - were awarded a compensation of Rs 6.21 crore and Rs 5.98 crore, respectively.

“The compensation has been possible because of love of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji for Arunachal,” CM Khandu said.

In all, a total of five villagers in Singchung were collectively compensated at a cost of Rs 24.56 crore, whereas, seven residents of Tukpen were collectively given Rs 13.17 crore, said West Kameng district's Deputy Commissioner Sonal Swaroop.

The lands had been acquired from their ancestors in 1962 by the Army, following the Sino-Indian war. The acquisition was necessitated to set up bases, construct roads, build bridges etc in the frontier state, bordering with the then arch-nemesis China.

The compensations were delayed by successive governments for various reasons, including re-assessment of the compensatory value as the land rate and inflation has grown exponentially in the past 58 years.

A decisive step was taken in April 2017, when the Centre released Rs 54 crore for 152 families, residing in three villagers of West Kameng. Subsequently, another Rs 158 crore was released in September last year.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 19, 2018 05:49 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).