Workshop conducted to deliberate ‘Prevention of ineligible Claims involving untoward incidents/accidents’ On Railways

No.354/2015-16

24-08-2015

Secunderabad

Workshop conducted to deliberate ‘Prevention of ineligible Claims involving untoward incidents/accidents’ On Railways

A workshop was conducted by the Claims Wing of Commercial Department of South Central Railway to deliberate o­n “Prevention of ineligible claims due to untoward incidents/accidents on Railways”, today i.e, 24thAugust, 2015 at Zonal Railway Training Institute (ZRTI), Moula-Ali, Hyderabad. Shri Gajanan Mallya, Senior Deputy General Manager, SCR was the Chief Guest at the Workshop which was presided by Shri Kayala Venkata Rao, Chief Claims Officer, SCR.

The workshop was aimed at educating and updating the knowledge of the field staff and public to take all care during rail travel and avoid any untoward incidents, save precious lives and negate false claims so as to protect the financial interests of Railways. Personnel representing various categories of field staff of Railways like Station Masters, Commercial Inspectors, Guards, Loco Pilots, Inspectors of Railway Protection Force (RPF) involved in investigation and preparation of reports were involved in the workshop.

Shri Gajanan Mallya, in his key note address, stated that there are several cases where claims concerning untoward incidents on Railways are actually false. He stressed o­n the pivotal role played by the front line staff of Railways such as Loco Pilots, Guards, Keyman, Pointsman, Station Masters etc., in reporting such incidents immediately, preserving related information and carrying out subsequent investigation in a thorough manner to identify genuine claim cases. He focused on the need for a team effort to handle such incidents.

The Workshop laid stress o­n discussing- What basically constitutes a Claim on Railways; Who Can be the genuine claimants; What are the cases which are claimable; Sections of Railways Act, 1989 which deal with claims; Process of carrying out investigation and the filing of report etc.

Claims o­n Railways are covered under Section 124 & 124A of Railways Act, 1989 for loss of life and injuries in train accident/ untoward incident.  Section 123 of Railways Act, 1989 concerning a terrorist act, robbery/dacoity etc and accidental falling of any passenger from a train is defined as untoward incident.  The Railway Claims Tribunal handles the cases. There have been a total of 915 cases concerning claims of untoward incidents o­n South Central Railway during the period 2013-2015. Of these, about 521 were on Vijayawada Division, 197 o­n Secunderabad Division and remaining were on other divisions of the Zone. 

Shri A Malleswara Rao, Dy. Chief Commercial Manager/  Claims & Presenting Officer, SCR made a Power Point Presentation o­n the subject, highlighting the critical areas in Claims on Railways. Shri D Narsinga Rao, Dy. Chief Vigilance Officer, Shri Chaithanya, Principal/ZRTI were present. Station Masters, Loco Pilots, Guards,   Supervisors of Civil, Electrical, Mechanical Engineering Departments and Inspectors of RPF attended the work shop, which also saw the participation of Railway advocates.