The Crossbill News Desk
Nearly two months after a tragic stampede at the New Delhi railway station claimed 18 lives, the Northern Railway’s Commercial Department has yet to upload the details of the victims to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) ex-gratia portal, despite repeated reminders from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), The Indian Express reported.
The delay is holding up the disbursement of ex-gratia payments sanctioned by the PMO for the families of the deceased and the seriously injured.
The stampede, which occurred on February 15, was triggered by a massive surge of passengers boarding trains to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. In its aftermath, the Centre announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased. Wads of cash in Rs 100 and Rs 500 denominations were handed over to the families on February 16, even as they collected the bodies from the hospital, with security personnel deployed to escort them home safely along with the cash.
On February 18, the PMO issued a letter to the Railway Board’s Chairman and CEO, instructing the ministry to upload complete victim details to the PMNRF’s ex-gratia portal so the sanctioned assistance—Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each seriously injured victim—could be transferred directly to their bank accounts. The amount was to be given in addition to the compensation already disbursed by the Railways.
Despite this, the Commercial Department had to be reminded twice more—via letters dated February 25 and March 3—to furnish and upload the necessary data.
A third letter, dated April 2, issued by the Deputy Chief Commercial Manager (Claims) to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager at the Northern Railway Divisional Office, urged immediate action, stating the delay was unacceptable.
“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,” the letter read.
The required information includes full identification and bank details of each deceased or injured individual and their next of kin, such as Aadhaar numbers, names, relationships, addresses, phone numbers, and bank account particulars authenticated by the competent authority.
While the Ministry of Railways had previously claimed prompt action after the stampede—disbursing Rs 10 lakh to each of the 18 deceased and Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh to grievously and slightly injured victims respectively—the administrative delay in updating the ex-gratia portal has now raised concerns about bureaucratic inefficiencies in ensuring timely relief to affected families.
The delay is holding up the disbursement of ex-gratia payments sanctioned by the PMO for the families of the deceased and the seriously injured.
The stampede, which occurred on February 15, was triggered by a massive surge of passengers boarding trains to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh. In its aftermath, the Centre announced an ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each of the deceased. Wads of cash in Rs 100 and Rs 500 denominations were handed over to the families on February 16, even as they collected the bodies from the hospital, with security personnel deployed to escort them home safely along with the cash.
On February 18, the PMO issued a letter to the Railway Board’s Chairman and CEO, instructing the ministry to upload complete victim details to the PMNRF’s ex-gratia portal so the sanctioned assistance—Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for each seriously injured victim—could be transferred directly to their bank accounts. The amount was to be given in addition to the compensation already disbursed by the Railways.
Despite this, the Commercial Department had to be reminded twice more—via letters dated February 25 and March 3—to furnish and upload the necessary data.
A third letter, dated April 2, issued by the Deputy Chief Commercial Manager (Claims) to the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager at the Northern Railway Divisional Office, urged immediate action, stating the delay was unacceptable.
“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,” the letter read.
The required information includes full identification and bank details of each deceased or injured individual and their next of kin, such as Aadhaar numbers, names, relationships, addresses, phone numbers, and bank account particulars authenticated by the competent authority.
While the Ministry of Railways had previously claimed prompt action after the stampede—disbursing Rs 10 lakh to each of the 18 deceased and Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 1 lakh to grievously and slightly injured victims respectively—the administrative delay in updating the ex-gratia portal has now raised concerns about bureaucratic inefficiencies in ensuring timely relief to affected families.
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