Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge today said that the national transporter will take all possible steps to improve Railway Claim System so as to make it more passenger-friendly.
"Vision of Indian Railways is to make its operation seamless and free of accidents.
"However, when some accidents occur, at such time, it is the endeavour of railways that victims or their dependents are given quick medical and monetary relief," Kharge said at the Consultative committee meeting of Members of Parliament for railways held at Bangalore.
"For stranded victims, the Traffic Commercial Staff play a crucial role at the accident site by dispensing ex-gratia to victim/dependents for their immediate needs," he added.
Promising claim system to become more "passenger-friendly", Railway Minister said "Railways has set up 21 Benches of Railway Claim Tribunal at 19 major cities and now the process of filing and settlement of claims have become more customer and user friendly," he said.
He also said that in the case of loss/damage of goods/parcels, obtaining compensation from Railways has become less problematic with the online registration of claims.
This was the first meeting of the Consultative Committee constituted under the 15th Lok Sabha outside Delhi. The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Choudhary and 16 MPs representing Karnataka, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Assam, Railway Board members and other senior officers.
The meeting has been held outside Delhi after four-and-a-half years, the last being in Udaipur in 2009. This meeting is the third meeting during the current year and second meeting under the chairmanship of Kharge.
The main focus of the consultative Committee meeting was "Railway Claims System" and Members of the Committee gave valuable suggestions for further improvement in Railway Claims System.
MPs also gave a few suggestions for improvement in many other areas of railway functioning, like train operations and passenger amenities. Kharge assured the MPs to look into the suggestions.
