KOLKATA: Paulomi Atta of Howrah, then five, bid her father Prasenjit goodbye on May 28, 2010, with the promise that he would bring back goodies for her.
He boarded the Jnaneswari Express that derailed near Bengal’s Jhargram, leaving 148 dead. Thirteen years on, Presenjit is still recorded as “missing” in the administration’s diaries and, therefore, the family is yet to get his death certificate.
Paulomi’s mother Juthika had sought the certificate as the family had been given initial compensation and Prasenjit continued to be missing. The absence of death certificates means such families cannot apply for benefits. They are crucial as the railways had promised jobs for the victims’ kin and for claims in a tribunal.
“My mother tried meeting CM Mamata Banerjee, subsequent railway ministers, local MLAs, district authorities before finally moving the civil judge’s court in Jhargram. We had lost our only earning member and had to hit the streets. My mother passed away last year. Now, I will continue her mission,” Paulomi told TOI.
Others, like Surendra Singh from Kolkata and Rajesh Kumar Bothra from Liluah, moved court in 2018. Both lost their wives and children in the accident. In a 2022 hearing, the railways questioned the need for the suits. The state is yet to appear.
According to Tirthankar Bhakat, the lawyer of four Jnaneswari victims’ families, all his clients had their blood tests conducted twice to thrice for DNA matches. “Yet, of the original 37 bodies unrecognised, 24 continue in the same category. All the state needs to do is call for reports from their local police stations and the place where they were seen last. A notice in a newspaper completes the process. Yet, even as we stare at another deadly railway accident, none of the ministers or bureaucrats step up for these victims,” said Bhakat.
An SER spokesperson said the death certificates will be issued by the state, not the railways. The Bengal home department could not be contacted for comment. HC advocate Bivas Chatterjee said: “The norm is that one can be declared dead in absentia of seven years, until there is any evidence that the person is alive.”
HC advocate Bivas Chatterjee said: “The norm is that one can be declared dead in absentia of seven years, until there is any evidence that the person is alive.”
He boarded the Jnaneswari Express that derailed near Bengal’s Jhargram, leaving 148 dead. Thirteen years on, Presenjit is still recorded as “missing” in the administration’s diaries and, therefore, the family is yet to get his death certificate.
Paulomi’s mother Juthika had sought the certificate as the family had been given initial compensation and Prasenjit continued to be missing. The absence of death certificates means such families cannot apply for benefits. They are crucial as the railways had promised jobs for the victims’ kin and for claims in a tribunal.
“My mother tried meeting CM Mamata Banerjee, subsequent railway ministers, local MLAs, district authorities before finally moving the civil judge’s court in Jhargram. We had lost our only earning member and had to hit the streets. My mother passed away last year. Now, I will continue her mission,” Paulomi told TOI.
Others, like Surendra Singh from Kolkata and Rajesh Kumar Bothra from Liluah, moved court in 2018. Both lost their wives and children in the accident. In a 2022 hearing, the railways questioned the need for the suits. The state is yet to appear.
According to Tirthankar Bhakat, the lawyer of four Jnaneswari victims’ families, all his clients had their blood tests conducted twice to thrice for DNA matches. “Yet, of the original 37 bodies unrecognised, 24 continue in the same category. All the state needs to do is call for reports from their local police stations and the place where they were seen last. A notice in a newspaper completes the process. Yet, even as we stare at another deadly railway accident, none of the ministers or bureaucrats step up for these victims,” said Bhakat.
An SER spokesperson said the death certificates will be issued by the state, not the railways. The Bengal home department could not be contacted for comment. HC advocate Bivas Chatterjee said: “The norm is that one can be declared dead in absentia of seven years, until there is any evidence that the person is alive.”
HC advocate Bivas Chatterjee said: “The norm is that one can be declared dead in absentia of seven years, until there is any evidence that the person is alive.”