Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday said he was 'disappointed' that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh did not discuss the extradition issue of Union Carbide chief Warren Anderson and the compensation for Bhopal gas disaster victims during his meeting with United States President Barack Obama.
"It was expected that the prime minister would discuss the Bhopal gas tragedy with Obama, but he did not do so," Chouhan told reporters.
Dr Singh met Obama on the sidelines of the G-20 Summit in Toronto. Chouhan said it was insufficient on the part of Dr Singh to say that efforts would be made for the extradition of Anderson.
"I want to ask Dr Singh who will make these efforts, when they would be made and what would be the process for them," he said, adding that he was 'extremely disappointed' with the approach of the Centre towards the Bhopal gas disaster.
The 89-year-old former UCC chief was declared an absconder in the case by a Bhopal court. The Bharatiya Janata Party leader said he had written a letter to the PM, drawing his attention to the discrepancies in the recommendations made by the Group of Ministers on the gas tragedy.
It was not correct on the part of the GoM to recommend compensation and relief for only 40,000 gas victims, Chouhan claimed. The recommendations do not do any justice, he said.
Chouhan said not declaring the remaining 20 wards of Bhopal as gas-hit was inappropriate.
The state government will take all possible steps for getting these 20 wards declared as gas-hit besides ensuring adequate compensation, relief, social, economic and medical rehabilitation of the victims, he added.
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