Delhi station stampede: Despite PMO reminders, Railways yet to upload victims’ details on PM relief fund portal

Eighteen people died in the stampede at the New Delhi railway station (NDLS) on February 15. The stampede was triggered by a surge in the crowd of passengers waiting to board trains for Prayagraj, which was hosting the Maha Kumbh.

In the early hours of February 16, when the families of those killed in the stampede arrived at the hospital to collect their bodies, wads of cash were handed over. This was after the Centre had announced that it would provide Rs 10 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of the deceased. Officials asked the relatives to take the bodies immediately and even deputed security personnel to ensure that the bodies reached home safely, along with the cash. The money was disbursed in bundles of Rs 100 and Rs 500 notes.

A source said the PMO had sent a letter on February 18 to the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Railway Board, asking to upload details of the victims of the stampede on the PMNRF ex-gratia portal. “In this connection, it is informed that the Prime Minister has sanctioned ex-gratia out of PMNRF – Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of the persons deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the persons, who got seriously injured in stampede at NDLS,” the letter said. The amount is in addition to the compensation already given to the kin of the deceased and injured.

“It is requested to kindly access the online ex-gratia portal and enter the requisite details of victims for releasing the ex-gratia directly to their bank accounts. It is also requested that the documents containing bank account details – authenticated by the competent authority, should also be uploaded on the portal,” the PMO’s letter added.

After receiving the letter from the PMO, a source said, two letters were sent by the Commercial Department (Claims) to the divisional commercial manager – on February 25 and on March 3.

In his latest letter on April 2, the deputy chief commercial manager (Claims) said to the senior divisional commercial manager at the Northern Railway Divisional Railway Manager’s office, “Please refer to this office letter of even no. dated: February 25 and March 3, wherein details of victims of stampede occurred at NDLS on February 15, were sought for deceased and seriously injured persons for releasing the ex-gratia sanctioned from PMRF directly to their bank accounts.”

“Please furnish the requisite details at the earliest as Ministry of Railway is pressing hard for uploading the data on ex-gratia portal and the matter is already delayed. The details should be furnished in hard and soft copy at the earliest. This may be treated as most urgent please,” it stated.

In the proforma, the PMO has asked them to provide details including full name of the injured, deceased, age, gender, Aadhaar card, category (seriously injured/deceased), father/spouse’s name, address, state, district, pin code, name of next of kin, relationship of victim with next of kin, mobile number of person entitled to get ex-gratia, bank holder name entitled to get ex-gratia, bank account number, bank’s name and IFSC code.

Soon after the incident, a statement issued by the Ministry of Railways said, “…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.”