Railway relief at a snails for injured trackmen

KOCHI:  The Indian Railways moves at a snail’s pace when it comes to granting relief to even its own workmen.  T V Bhaskaran and Mani, two railway trackmen under the Permanent Way Section Engineer in Aluva, sustained severe leg injuries when they were unloading bits of rails from a mini lorry on January 2.  They were rushed to the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences  here and had to undergo major surgeries. Their treatment expenses came to `5.5 lakh.    The railways is bound to meet the treatment expenses of its employees sustaining injuries when on duty.Bhaskaran was discharged four days ago but he still remains in his hospital bed as the bills have not been paid. Mani is yet to be discharged.  Both are from economically backward families.A request for meeting the hospital expenses was sent to the railways on January 4. However, it was not sanctioned as the General Manager was out of town.   “Only `20,000 has been paid up till now. They are still to pay at least `4 lakh,” Accounts section official K Ajith of Amrita Hospital said.“My wife is ailing and my son is busy with his studies. The doctors said that I could go home on Sunday, but my bills are yet to be paid.  About 1,000 kg of track pieces had fallen  on our legs,” Bhaskaran said. The railway authorities had promised to pay the bills by Tuesday, but it was not done. Chief Medical Superintendent of the Thiruvanthapuram division of the railways V M Mathur said that immediate action would be taken. “The cheque will be sanctioned tomorrow. By Thursday, the injured can go home,” he said.Various railway trade unions said that if the bills are not settled by tomorrow, they will launch an agitation, including stopping the movement of trains. P V Ouseph, chairman of Aluva branch of Southern Railway Employees Sangh (SRES) said that the referral hospital facilities that were available for the employees in Thiruvananthapuram Railway Division suffered a major setback as the contract with referral hospital was not yet renewed owing to the poor rate insisted by the railways for the treatment. The  AIMS which had entered into a contract with the railways is plannig to terminate it.The SRES which had organized a divisional office march will intensify the agitation shortly. The SRES Aluva branch has sought the help of general secretary of SRES in Chennai to intervene  in settling the bills immediately, branch secretary Thomas Jacob said.  The railway GM who was here on Tuesday  did not comment on the issue or give a clear-cut date of settling the bill, the SRES official said.