Many people, after having lost near and dear ones in the triple-train crash in Odisha’s Balasore, are now struggling with procedural hassles to get the compensation money that they have been told they are entitled to.
A railway camp set up at the new complex of Howrah station to assist people affected by the accident had several visitors throughout the day.
The Telegraph spoke to the cousin of a man who died in the crash at the station on Tuesday. Sk Munna, 28, a zari worker on the outskirts of Bangalore, was on the Bangalore-Howrah Superfast Express.
On Tuesday, his cousin, Sk Selim, and his widow, Amina Begum, had come from Nalpur in Howrah district to Howrah station to enquire about the compensation money. After almost two hours at the station, they went back home, empty-handed and none the wiser.
The railways announced an ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for those grievously injured and Rs 50,000 for those who suffered minor injuries.
Besides, Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has announced that her government would pay Rs 5 lakh in compensation to the families of passengers from Bengal killed in the accident.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased.
On Tuesday, Amina was too distraught to speak. “He left home because there is no work here,” was all she could muster.
The account of Sk Selim follows. The bracketed parts have been added by this newspaper for clarity.
This morning, we got a call from a man who said he was a railway officer. He asked us to come to Howrah station with the documents of my cousin.
But a man sitting at the camp told us that we would have to visit Kharagpur to get the money.
We told him that we did not know the place well. After a while, we were told to visit the Garden Reach railway office. (Kharagpur, 121km from Howrah, is a major railway division under South Eastern Railway and the Garden Reach office in Calcutta which Selim was asked to visit is the headquarters of South Eastern Railway).
My sister-in-law was already exhausted. She had barely eaten anything since hearing the news of her husband’s death.
I called up the man who had called us in the morning. After listening to what I had to say, he sought some time and said he would call back.
When he did, he said I did not need to go anywhere today. He said I should return home and wait. Everything would be arranged and I would be contacted again, he told me.
The money would be of great help for my sister-in-law. My brother was the sole earning member of the family.
He worked in Gujarat before the pandemic. He had moved to Bangalore a few months ago.
On Friday night, after hearing about the crash, I called his number repeatedly.
After around 10-15 minutes, a man answered. He said my brother was dead. It must have been close to midnight.
Within a couple of hours, I managed to rent a car and left for Bahanaga (where the accident happened) with a family member. We reached around 7am on Saturday.
A frantic search for his body followed. After a few hours, I managed to locate him at a local school, which had turned into a morgue. His face was still recognisable.
We showed the relevant documents like the Aadhaar card and was given the body.
We rented an ambulance next and reached Howrah around 3.30 pm on Saturday.
Asked about the compensation process, Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, spokesperson for South Eastern Railway, said: “Anyone who wants to know about compensation just needs to call the helplines (railway helpline: 139; Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation helpline: 18003450061/1929). All assistance will be provided.”