Railway Board

Sinhagad Express

domestic help

Victims and families

Victims of Elphinstone Road station tragedy at the claims tribunal in March last year

Normal tribunal hearings usually take years. The lok adalat disposed of cases in a few hours.A driver from Pune who lost his right leg; a Virar diamond polisher who lives with plates and screws inside his body; and the family of a Surat man who died during a holiday in Mumbai. They, along with over 210 victims of mishaps that occurred on Mumbai’s crowded trains, were awarded compensation in one go at a first-of-its-kind lok adalat held at the Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) on Tuesday.The grant of compensation at normal hearings conducted by the tribunal usually takes years, ensnaring victims in a cycle of uncertainty, distress and disruption. With over 6,700 pending compensation claims for rail deaths and injuries, the Mumbai RCT has the second largest backlog in the country after the Lucknow centre. Mirror had reported in December last year that thehad decided to organise lok adalats to fasttrack the cases.The first such session in Mumbai was held on Tuesday afternoon, providing some closure to victims and their families. A total of 252 cases were listed for hearing, out of which 218 were resolved with award of compensation. A lawyer handling 28 cases refused to participate in the lok adalat after raising certain objections.The majority of the cases — 200 — were related to people who died after falling off packed trains, were run over or were involved in other fatal mishaps. During the hearing, the railway administration told the RCT chairman that it accepted liability and it would compensate the families. The remaining 24 cases pertained to injuries suffered by travellers.Sundar Raj Shetty, 41, worked as a chauffeur in Pune and he was his family’s only provider. In October 2012, he fell off a crowdedin Kurla, losing his right leg. On Tuesday, he was granted compensation of Rs 3.2 lakh. “After over six years, the amount appears paltry — I have two young children to raise — but I am happy that the claim has been resolved,” he said. Shetty’s wife, Aarti, now works as ato support the family.Virar resident Tushar S, 29, suffered a fracture on his right hand after a fall from a local train in 2012. He was granted Rs 1.45 lakh by the RCT chairman, Justice K Kannan. Tushar worked as a diamond polisher in Dahisar, a job he had to quit after the accident. “I used to earn Rs 12,000 a month before. Now, I make only Rs 8,000. The people whom I taught polishing work now earn more than me. That’s life,” he said.Tushar had given up hope of getting any money from the railways before the announcement of the lok adalat changed his view. “I can pay off a loan now,” he said. His lawyer, Ishwari Shetty, had asked for Rs 2 lakh as compensation.Abdul Wajid, from Surat, lost his 26-year-old nephew, Abdul Razzak, in a train accident in December 2013. Razzak was in Mumbai for a short holiday when the mishap occurred. At the time, his daughter was only nine months old. On Tuesday, his family members attended the lok adalat, which announced compensation of Rs 8 lakh for him. “It has been a long wait for us, but there is some closure now.Justice Kannan stressed on the need to improve the quality of railway inquiries and reports to speed up the claims process. “The quality of investigation of these claims cases has to improve. I have given a new format for the inquiry as the police do not go beyond calling a few witnesses. Cops don’t review the station master’s diary or the motorman’s statement,” he told Mirror. “We are left to investigate these cases in the court years after they have occurred. By then, many facts are distorted.”Justice Kannan made another pertinent point: The mentality of the railway administration has to change and it must take responsibility when the victims deserve compensation.