182 unidentified bodies from Bengal; Rs 10K compensation for trauma victims: Mamata

MP, 4 June 2023, Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said 61 bodies of people belonging to Bengal could be identified but there are still 182 unidentified bodies while announcing for the trauma victims a one-time compensation of Rs 10,000 and Rs 2,000 (every month) for the next three months. 

Addressing a press conference from her Kalighat office on Sunday, the Chief Minister said 206 people are admitted to different hospitals in the state. She said about 72 people are admitted to hospitals in Odisha and 56 accident victims have been released so far. Banerjee said photos of the unidentified bodies have been circulated in the districts but none of them could be identified as of today. 

“Our 24-hour monitoring cells are functioning out of the state secretariat, Kharagpur, Santragachi and in Howrah. Some of our IAS officers have been engaged on duty at Kharagpur, Midnapore and at the Bengal-Odisha border. They are making arrangements to send the victims from Bengal to their homes in various districts. 

The state government has ferried about 700-800 people to their homes on Saturday,” she highlighted. 

The Chief Minister added: “The state government has also decided to give Rs 10,000 as one-time compensation to the persons who although have not suffered injuries but have returned home in sheer trauma. They will also be given Rs 2,000 along with relief materials for the next three months since they may not be in a position to join work immediately. Most of them are migrant workers. 

The ones with minor injuries are also being given Rs 25,000. Accordingly, we have already issued instructions to the District Magistrates.” 

Banerjee stated that when she was the Railways minister, all signal systems were changed, unmanned level crossings were manned and anti-collision devices were installed. Such steps had helped reduce the number of rail accidents. 

“About 400 railway crossings were manned. Before that the accidents which used to take place because of unmanned crossings were not even considered a fault of the Railways,” she remarked. 

“I supervised the work of installation of anti-collision devices in trains. I got the Konkan Railways to implement it. I personally went to watch its trial. After its success, it was installed. Under the present government in the Centre, Railways have been severely neglected. They did not even maintain the Duronto Express that I had introduced,” she alleged. 

About Vande Bharat Express, Mamata said although the name sounds good, people got to witness what happened to one of these trains during a storm. “Passengers were stuck for hours. 

An inquiry should be launched into where were the engines of Vande Bharat made,” she asserted. She said instead of apologising to the public, the BJP government is politicising the matter by circulating false information about the number of deaths during the time she and Nitish Kumar were the Railway ministers. 

“The real numbers, if compared, are nothing close to what happened in the Balasore accident. What is the point of talking about what happened in the past? Instead, the Railway Ministry must apologise to the public and order a thorough probe to bring the truth to light.
Instead, they are playing a dirty game and trying to suppress the number of deaths,” she alleged. 

https://www.millenniumpost.in/bengal/182-unidentified-bodies-from-bengal-rs-10k-compensation-for-trauma-victims-mamata-520976