Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose on Friday handed over compensations on behalf of the railways to the families of two of 23 migrant workers who had been killed when an under-construction railway bridge had collapsed near Aizwal in Mizoram on Wednesday.

The Trinamul Congress was quick to slam the governor’s “political” role.

“Why did the governor distribute cheques for compensation on behalf of the railways? It was the duty of the railway minister or senior officials. He is doing the job of political leaders,” Trinamul Rajya Sabha member Samirul Islam said soon after Bose had given cheques for Rs 10 lakh each to the families of two men from Malda.

So far, 23 migrant labourers from Malda district have died in the Mizoram railway accident. They mostly belonged to Pukhuria and Englishbazar in Malda.

“The governor should speak about the poor performance of railways and its security lapses that claimed the lives of poor migrant workers,” said Samirul, who is also the chairman of the West Bengal Migrant Workers’ Welfare Board.

The governor was supposed to arrive in Malda by Vande Bharat Express from Howrah station but it developed a technical fault. Bose reached Malda around 11.30am by an alternative train and read out before the media his condolence messages in English, Bengali and Sanskrit

He went to two places under the jurisdiction of Pukhuria police station and met the relatives of 12 of the 23 deceased people.

“Railway minister Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw has already announced that the family members of each of the dead migrant labourers will be paid a compensation of Rs 10 lakh, those who suffered serious injuries will be given Rs 2 lakh each and workers with minor injuries will be provided with Rs 50,000 each,” said Bose.

The relatives of the deceased requested the governor for one job per family. “I cannot decide on this on the spot but I will surely place their request before competent authorities,” Bose said.

The railway authorities defended the disbursal of the compensation by the governor and said it was a common practice.

“Railways can hand over cheques through any dignitary. Inaugurations of railway projects or welfare projects or the distribution of compensations are often made by esteemed personalities like
governors or MPs as decided by the authorities,” said a railway official, adding that Bose had distributed the cheques in the presence of railway
officials.

The BJP came out in support of Bose.

“First, they (Trinamul) had demanded that railways pay compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased migrants. After the railways started paying the compensations quickly through the governor, they are making baseless accusations,” said Malda North BJP MP Khagen Murmu.

“Trinamul’s allegations prove that they are accustomed to doing politics over the dead,” added the MP.

A delegation of the Congress met the governor in Malda and raised the issue of the migration of lakhs of people from Bengal.

“The state government cannot evade the responsibility of the death of so many residents who are compelled to migrate,” said Kaustav Bagchi, a Congress leader who also demanded that the state government increase its compensation package.

The state government has announced a package of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.

Bose, however, said: “Instead of criticism, we should all stand together with those families who have lost precious human lives.”

The mortal remains of the deceased are expected to arrive on Friday night.