In the David and Goliath genre, it does not get any bigger.

On one side was the Indian Railways, the mighty utility that literally keeps a large section of the world’s most populous country moving.

On the other was Mursalim Sheikh, all of 12 years old, the son of a migrant worker and a bidi worker, from Malda.

We are happy to report that Mursalim has won hands down — without taking recourse to the slingshot that the original David wielded to fell the giant.

In defeat, the railways have been gracious but not generous enough. The utility should have paid him more than the Rs 1,500 that was offered as a token of appreciation, feel public figures in Malda.

Forty-eight hours after denying that the boy had saved the lives of hundreds of passengers travelling in a long-distance train on Saturday, the railways said on Monday that the boy “has defined bravery after he waved his red shirt to make the loco pilot of a speeding passenger train stop the train from crossing” a rain-damaged portion.

In a media release issued by Sabyasachi De, chief public relations officer, Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), the railways said: “NFR salutes the boy’s approach towards the society...”.

The same official had said over the phone from Maligaon, the NFR headquarters in Assam, on Saturday: “Our men spotted the damage under the track and informed concerned authorities who, in turn, informed the driver. It was not the boy.”

On Sunday, contacted again, he had stuck to his statement. “Whatever I have said is based on information gathered from our sources,” he said over the phone.

On Monday, a senior railway official visited Mursalim’s home and felicitated him.

On Saturday afternoon, the Northeast-bound Kanchenjungha Express from Sealdah was approaching the Bhaluka Road station of Malda. Mursalim, a resident of Jhangarpara village in the Harishchandrapur-II block of the district, was walking along the tracks.

He noticed that the soil and pebbles had been washed away from under the tracks. Hearing the train approaching, Mursalim took off his red T-shirt and started waving it. The loco pilot noticed it and pulled the emergency brakes, bringing the train to a halt ahead of the damaged portion.

Soon after, railway staff arrived and carried out necessary repairs. The train then left for its destination.

Mursalim, a Class VI student, is the son of Mohammad Ismail, a migrant worker, and Marjina Bibi, a bidi worker. Ismail is in Gujarat now. Mursalim has a brother and a sister.

“We thank the railway authorities for appreciating my son’s effort. We are a poor family and it would be great if they could help him continue his education,” Marjina said on Monday.

On Saturday, as the news spread, Trinamul leaders, including MLAs from Malda district, visited the boy’s home and felicitated him. When the railways initially said their staff had averted any untoward incident, Khagen Murmu, the BJP MP from Malda north, had tried to control the damage.

Murmu arrived at the boy’s house on Sunday and congratulated him for what he had done. The railways would felicitate him, he said.

On Monday, Surendra Kumar, the divisional railway manager of Katihar, came to Jhangarpara with Murmu. They handed over a certificate and a cash award of Rs 1,500.

“It is good that they have finally recognised the boy’s contribution towards saving the train. But Rs 1,500 is too meagre a sum: they should have been generous and paid a substantial amount to him, especially considering the economic condition of his family,” said Abdur Rahim Boxi, the Malda district Trinamul president.

Residents of the village said that in December 2019, when protests against the new citizenship regime had rocked Bengal, the Bhaluka Road station was ransacked and torched.

“Some antisocials had vandalised the station and brought a bad name to neighbouring villages. Mursalim’s feat has helped our area shed its negative image,” said Hamimul Rehman, a resident of the boy’s village.

On Monday, the chief public relations officer who had initially denied that Mursalim had any role in the train averting a mishap, said: “The boy was rewarded for his awareness of railway safety. But it’s our men who passed the information ahead and stopped the train.”

The media release issued in the name of the same official does not make any such claim. It gives full credit to Mursalim.