Rs10 lakh for kin of person killed in ST bus accident

Minister for transport Diwakar Raote on Tuesday informed that the government is preparing a comprehensive plan to provide compensation of Rs10 lakh to the family of a person who dies in an accident while travelling in a state transport bus. At present, the compensation amount is not more than Rs7 lakh.

Raote was responding to the calling attention motion moved by MLAs Kunal Patil, Jitendra Avhad, Rahul Kul, Sardar Tara Sinh, Trupti Savant, Sunil Prabhu, Sharad Sonawane, Ajit Pawar, Jayant Patil and others. The motion was based on the recent accident at Chinchgavhan bye-pass on Dhule-Chalisgaon road in which a container, in a bid to avoid a road divider, had a head-on collision with a Chalisgaon-Surat bus. The mishap killed 22 people and injured 35 others.

Raote informed the assembly that the government has already disbursed an amount of Rs3 lakh for the next of kin of two deceased. He also informed that the procedure for disbursement of the remaining amount was already on. However, since there are some legal issues involving the legal heirs of the other deceased persons, payment is yet to be made to them, he added.

Raote informed that it was true that some legal professionals generally approach family members of the deceased by promising that they would fetch more money for them from the government. He added that in one such case earlier, the family members of a deceased person were able to get Rs35 lakh as compensation through a court case. However, in all other cases, the family members have received an average Rs5 to Rs7 lakh only.