Bill to amend Railways Act referred to the Standing Committee

New Delhi: A bill to amend the Railways Act to change the definition of ‘accidental falling’ was today referred to the Standing Committee after a strong demand by several members in the Lok Sabha. The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2014, seeks to provide clarity on “accidental falling” from trains to curb misuse of existing provisions and also prevent false claims. [caption id=“attachment_1659515” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. Reuters[/caption] Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said usually a bill is never sent to Standing Committee after discussion and reply by the Minister, “but, we are sending it to the committee keeping the sense of the House in mind.” The bill, introduced on 7 August, was taken up for discussion and passage after Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda explained reasons for the proposed amendment. Gowda said the number of false claims has been increasing manifold and the proposed amendments would help to curb such claims. According to Gowda, even the claims tribunal have observed that there should be more clarity in the Act to curb false claims and accidental falling need to be defined. Citing statistics, he said the number of claims rose to over 8,150 during 2010-11 from 136 in 1994-95. During that time, the claims amount jumped to Rs 164 crore from Rs 26 lakh, he said. During the debate on the bill, Opposition targeted the government for its move to amend the definition of ‘accidental falling’ in Railways Act. Congress member KC Venugopal said the move is “quite objectionable”. “Railways is trying to take decision that is against the will and wish of people,” he said and wondered how it can withdraw from its moral responsibility of providing compensation to rail accident victims. PTI