West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday strongly criticized the Centre's recommendation for a CBI investigation into the Balasore train tragedy, stating that she desires transparency and wants the public to have all the facts. She further insisted that now is not the appropriate moment to conceal the truth, news agency ANI reported.
Banerjee announced job offers to the kin of the deceased and paid tribute to the victims of the Odisha train tragedy. "I will visit Cuttack & Bhubaneswar again. On Wednesday, we will hand over cheques of ex-gratia amount and job letters to families of the victims of the Odisha train accident," she stated.
"We want people to know the truth. It is not the time to suppress the truth," she said.
At the last minute, Banerjee cancelled her planned trip to Darjeeling for four days in order to oversee the treatment and recovery of state passengers who were hurt in the triple train mishap in Balasore, Odisha. Sources from the secretariat reported that the leader of the Trinamool Congress had planned a trip to Darjeeling to hold meetings with representatives from various political parties in the area, in preparation for the upcoming panchayat elections.
On Sunday, the Odisha administration announced that the death toll from the three train accidents has been re-evaluated from 288 to 275, while the count of people injured was updated to 1,175. On that particular day, Banerjee had expressed doubts about the accuracy of the death toll provided by the Railway Ministry. She claimed that 61 individuals from her state had been reported dead, while an additional 182 were still unaccounted for.
Govt Asks Airlines To Provide Free Carriage Services To Families Of Deceased
During a meeting with the Airlines Advisory Group, the Civil Aviation minister expressed unease over recent instances of exorbitant surge pricing on specific air routes. He stressed the importance of airlines taking proactive measures to regulate fares on these specific routes, especially where Go First had previously operated.
The minister suggested devising a system for ensuring just pricing within the high RBDs, which would be monitored by the DGCA.
"During any calamity, airlines need to keep a tight check on the pricing of air tickets in view of the humanitarian situation and monitor and control any surge in ticket prices to/from that region," the Ministry of Civil Aviation said in a statement issued on Monday.
The Ministry has informed airlines to offer free carriage facilities to the families of the victims affected by the regrettable Odisha incident.