The Union government on Monday announced an ex-gratia relief of `5 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the train mishap in Bihar’s Khagaria district and ordered an inquiry into it.
Railway minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday told the Rajya Sabha that he had spoken to Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on steps to maintain law and order to facilitate normal train operations.
“On humanitarian grounds, an ex-gratia amount of `5 lakh for those who lost their lives and `1 lakh for those grievously injured has been announced,” he said.
Responding to members’ demands for `10 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased, Mr Kharge said the money being paid was in line with compensation given in recent times.
The railway minister stated that “as per the last information, 28 persons got run over and lost their lives and six were injured.” He said 27 people died on the spot while one died on the way to hospital.
He expressed condolence to the bereaved families and sympathies to the injured. The minister added that after the incident, the mob got agitated and burnt about 20 coaches and two engines apart from damaging the railway station.
“Medical relief train and a team of doctors and officers has reached the site,” he said.
BJP’s deputy leader Ravi Shankar Prasad slammed the Bihar government for being unable to prevent a law and order situation. The Nitish Kumar government also came in for criticism from RJD’s Ram Kirpal Yadav who alleged that local administration officials hadn’t reached the spot till after five hours of the incident.
Earlier in the day, Health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad introduced the Mental Health Bill in the House.