The Maoist attack on Gyaneshwari Express in West Bengal on Friday. While one might assume that the loss of life should hold the same importance, whether a train or an air accident, the compensations announced tell a different story.
The government announced a compensation package of Rs 5 lakh each to families of the victims of the Maoist attack on the Gyaneshwari Express. The same government has awarded Rs 10 lakh each to the families of those who died in Saturday's air crash. This is an interim package, and the total relief amount can go up to Rs 72 lakh, according to the provisions of the Carriage by Air (Amendment) Act.
The injured in the air crash will get Rs 2 lakh, whereas the injured in the train attack will get Rs 1 lakh. Historically too, train accident victims are handed out lesser ex gratia. Consider the three train accidents that took place in Uttar Pradesh on January 2 earlier this year in which 10 people were killed and 45 injured.
The compensation in this case was Rs 5 lakh for the dead, Rs 1 lakh for the critically injured and Rs 10,000 for those with minor injuries.
The real issue is insurance. In India, railway passengers are not insured by Indian Railways and various bodies of the government take responsibility in case of an accident. "As for flight passengers, the onus of safety lies on carriers, so they go for large insurance," says Tarun Singh, MD-CEO of Finexure Financial Services, a management company catering to retail and HNI clients.
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