About 110 Migrants Died On Railway Premises During Operation Of Shramik Specials Since May 1

About 110 migrants died on Railway premises during the operation of Shramik Special trains since May 1, The Indian Express reported.

According to data from the states where nearly 63.07 lakh stranded migrants reached on 4,611 Shramik Special trains, the 110-odd deaths were caused by reasons like pre-existing illness and COVID-19. Some deaths have not even been taken into account as the bodies were found on tracks, run over by trains, sources said.

The government, however, has maintained that nine of these deaths can be linked to unavailability of food or water on Railway premises. This was contended by the government in various official forums, including in an ongoing case in the Supreme Court.

Food and water were served for free to the migrants on the Shramik Specials.

Seventy-five people died every day on Railway premises in 2019 on an average, sources said, including deaths due to trespassing on railway tracks, natural causes, and other reasons such as falling off trains, being hit by poles while leaning out of moving trains. In 2019, there was no death due to train accidents in 2019.

The data is usually collected by the Government Railway Police in respective states.

Compensation can be claimed from Railway Claims Tribunal only in cases of deaths due to what is defined as "untoward incident" in the law. According to Chairman, Railway Board, VK Yadav, any claim for compensation for the migrants' death would be as per existing procedure of the tribunal on a "case-to-case" basis.

The Railways, talking about some cases of deaths of migrants that emerged during the peak of Shramik Special operations, those who died had pre-existing illnesses. Some of them, the Railways claimed, were returning after treatment in cities.

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