Stepping up her attack on the Central government, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday slammed the Railway Board’s decision to hand over the inquiry into the Odisha train accident to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) saying that “It is not the time to suppress the truth”. The West Bengal CM said, “We want people to know the truth.
It is not the time to suppress the truth”. “I also gave the Gyaneshwari Express case to CBI but no result came. 12 years over but we see no result. CBI handles criminal and accident cases. The Railway Safety Commission is there,” she further remarked.
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The CM announced state government jobs for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore. She said that relatives of those who lost their limbs in the horrific crash will also be given government jobs. Banerjee added that her government will also give cash aid to those who were on board the Coromandel Express and are currently going through mental and physical trauma.
She will visit Bhubaneswar and Cuttack on Tuesday to meet the injured passengers recuperating in different hospitals. She said that currently there are 206 injured passengers from West Bengal admitted to different hospitals in Odisha. “There are 33 critical passengers in Cuttack hospitals,” she said, adding that a few Bengal ministers and senior officers will accompany her. She will distribute the ex gratia cheques and appointment letters to the next of kin of the victims on Wednesday.
The Bengal chief minister added that she did not want to resort to politics on the accident and would do everything to help the injured passengers and their families.
Earlier in the day, Banerjee cancelled her four-day trip to Darjeeling at the last minute to supervise the treatment and rehabilitation of passengers of the state who were injured in the train accident, sources said.
The Trinamul Congress chief was supposed to visit Darjeeling where she was scheduled to meet members of all political parties in the Hills before the panchayat elections slated this year, secretariat sources said.
“She wants to be in Kolkata and oversee how the rehabilitation and treatment of injured passengers from West Bengal who were on board the Coromandel Express that met with an accident. She will visit the Hills later,” a senior official at Nabanna said.
