Families and relatives of the victims of the Jnaneswari train ‘accident' on Monday demonstrated at the Secretariat here, demanding compensation and death certificates. Altogether five families held a virtual sit-in for nearly two hours.
Special Secretary (Home) A.G. Ghosh, who met them and heard their grievances, said efforts were on to pay compensation for missing relatives as early as possible.
“The issue of giving death certificates will have to be discussed with the Judicial Department,” he told reporters later.
He said the families of 12 people (of the 39 still unidentified) out of the 147 killed in the derailment on May 28 in Paschim Medinipur, had applied for compensation as well as death certificates. They said they had received Rs. 5 lakh a person compensation from the railways.
Documents sought
“We have told them to submit to the district magistrate the documents on the basis of which they have received the compensation from the railways,” Mr. Ghosh said. This should include proof of relation, passenger reservation and ticket numbers. “Once they submit these, we will try to pay the compensation very soon.”
The issue of giving death certificates for those missing was, however, trickier and the Home Department had asked the Judicial Department to see if a way out could be found. “We will write to them again,” Mr. Ghosh said.
It may be mentioned that in addition to compensation paid by the railways, the State government had announced a compensation of Rs. 3 lakh each to the victims' families.
DNA mismatch
However, difficulty in matching the DNA samples with the bodies at the morgue proved to be a hurdle.
A total of 39 people were listed as missing as their bodies or remains could not be matched even after repeated samplings.
CBI probing case
The CBI is now investigating the case. The derailment of some coaches of the Mumbai-bound train was widely believed to have been caused by Maoists. The train was then hit by a speeding goods train.
The families have been making visits to the Secretariat, saying that the State government should have no problem in giving out their share of the compensation promised to the families of victims, even if their identities have not been proven, as the railways had paid their share.
They said that they needed the death certificate urgently, as they were unable to either draw the statutory benefits or even claim a job on compassionate grounds in the absence of the crucial documentation.
