Commuters’ body approaches authorities, seeking relief for people who die or get injured while traveling.
August 30. Monday. After a relaxing weekend, 30-year-old Ajay Yadav, a resident of Mumbra, was going to work by an overcrowded local when he hit a pole and got himself severely injured.
For the past one and a half months, he has no source of income because he has not recovered yet, and the treatment is still on.
Yadav is one of those several victims whose lives have not returned to normal after meeting with accidents on the tracks. In many cases, the victims find themselves financially crippled. But things may soon change.
The Mumbai Rail Pravasi Sangh (MRPS), a commuters’ body, has sought compensation for commuters who die or get badly injured while commuting in local trains. The sangh’s argument is: if there can be a compensation package for farmers on the verge of suicide, why can’t there be one for people who meet with accidents while travelling in trains?
On an average, about 4,000 train commuters die every year and as many get injured. Till September 30 this year, 2,729 commuters have already died and more than 3,023 injured.
Though the toll has come down in the past few years, at least 300 commuters die every month on an average.
Members of the MRPS met railway board chairman Vivek Sahai in New Delhi and have handed over a memorandum to him, seeking the package.
“There should be an on-the-spot payment to injured victims. As of now, once an injured victim is out of the rail premises, the railway administration refuses to acknowledge his existence. With so many deaths and injuries, it is time for the railways to formulate a policy in the matter,” MRPS president Madhu Kotian said, adding that Sahai had assured them that he would take up the matter.
DC Godbole, vice-president of the Sangh said, said the problem is serious enough and it’s time the railways realised that. “There are major lacunae while registering the reason of death of a passenger. There is no proof on how the death has occurred — by falling from rooftop, or from footboard or while trespassing. So that grey area needs to be addressed, and there has to be a policy that would ensure a minimum payment to look after the injured victims,” he added.
There have also been public-interest litigations in the Bombay high court, alleging negligence by the railway authorities while transportation of the injured and while administering first aid to the injured on the spot.
The local railway administration has refuted the allegations of negligence and said they were doing their best to move accident victims from the spot to the nearest hospitals.
“We also take up special drives and campaigns to educate commuters on the dangers of trespassing,” a railway spokesperson said.
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