To
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw
Railway Minister
Dear Shri Vaishnaw,
I find that your Ministry had announced an ex-gratia relief of oly Rs 10 lakhs for each of those who lost lives in the recent Kanchenjunga Express accident in W. Bengal , whereas the Minister for Civil Aviation announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 20 lakhs for the deceased in the Delhi Airport Roof Collapse accident on the 28th of June 2024 . Both accidents occurred as a result of gross negligence on the part of the concerned government agencies, especially those occupying senior public offices. In either case, by granting such an ex-gratia relief, the government would not fully compensate the kith and kin of those that lost their lives. Strictly, whatever relief thus paid should be recovered from the pockets of those responsible, not from tax-payers.
Why should Railways consider the lives of those killed in railway accidents of a lesser value compared to those killed in an airport? Does it imply that the government discriminates against the not-so-well-to-do?
In fact, considering railway passengers are not usually as well-to-do, compared to their counterparts travelling in flights, it is the former that call for greater support.
May I therefore request the Railways to enhance ex-gratia relief to the level at which the Civil Aviation Ministry has announced ex-gratia relief to the Delhi Airport Roof Collapse victim? For both the deceased and the injured, the relief should be the same for accident victims across the board, without discrimination.
Evidently, the government does not have a consistent policy for granting such relief. Individual Ministries seem to announce relief according to their whims. It is high time that such a policy is put in place.
Yours sincerely,
E A S sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam
