Within hours of stampede, mourning kin handed Rs 10 lakh in cash as compensation

The money was disbursed in bundles of Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes (Express Photo)

Anubhav Sahay of Buxar in Bihar, whose 70-year-old mother Asha Devi was killed on Saturday, was among those who got the money.

“After the post-mortem was completed at Lok Nayak hospital this morning, when I was handed over the body of my mother, the railway and police officials also gave me Rs 10 lakh in cash. Unhone bola yeh muaavaza diya ja raha hai (they said it is compensation,” he said.

“Paisa koyi maayne nahi rakhta (But money has no meaning).”

Anubhav took his mother’s body to Noida, where he currently stays, and carried out her last rites. “We were on our way to Buxar,” he said. “I was accompanying my mother. We had gone to the station to travel on the Magadh Express.”

Vipin Kumar Jha, who lost his wife Mamta Jha, 40, in the stampede, said he too received the money. “Soon after the body of my wife was handed over to me in the morning, officials gave me Rs 10 lakh in cash,” Jha, who resides in West Delhi’s Nangloi, told The Indian Express.

“They also told me in case I required security to carry this money home, they would depute an RPF constable. I told them I don’t need any security because I live in Delhi,” said Jha, adding that those who were from outside Delhi took security personnel along.

Manju Kushwaha, who lost her husband Manoj Kushwaha, 47, said, “We got Rs 10 lakh. It was all given in cash. It will help but it can never bring him back.”

In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said, “Earlier in the day, the Indian Railways gave ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the kin of all the 18 deceased. An amount of Rs 2.5 lakh to grievously injured passengers and a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for passengers with minor injuries were distributed to the 15 injured during the day. Further, Indian Railways personnel assisted the families of each of the deceased by accompanying them to their homes and took part in their final rites.”

A senior official of the Ministry of Railways said ex-gratia is an immediate relief and is different from “compensation”. “That is why cash was given to the family members of the victims,” the official added.

“It is not an unusual thing. The ex-gratia was distributed in cash during the Balasore accident too. It is given in cash because… the families usually do not have bank details in hand or some of the victims do not have bank accounts. So the ex-gratia was distributed after identifying them (family members of the victims) by their Aadhaar cards. The station master has the power to order the withdrawal of money (from the official account) and it is then disbursed by the commercial department,” the official said.