AP govt announces ex-gratia to victims of Odisha rail accident

Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Sunday directed the officials to pay ex-gratia to the victim families of AP passengers who died or received injuries in the Odisha train accident.

At a review meeting held at Tadepalli near here on relief and rescue operations, he told them to pay ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each to the kin of the diseased, Rs 5 lakhs each to those seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh each to those who sustained minor injuries, in addition to the financial help extended by the Centre.

A high-level team of three IAS officers headed by Minister for Industries Gudivada Amarnath was deputed to Balasore immediately to take stock of the situation with relief men and material. Meanwhile, Education Minister Botcha Satyanarayana at a meeting in Visakhapatnam stated that the State Government had taken all steps to come to the rescue of the injured patients and shifted them to various hospitals in Andhra Pradesh.

The Chief Minister asked the officials about the details of AP passengers who died or sustained injuries in the accident. Officials told him that a Srikakulam district passenger, who was a resident of Balasore in Odisha died in the accident and there were no other reports of deaths with regard to AP passengers.

Officials also informed him about the action taken by the IAS officers' committee led by Amarnath in Odisha and Satyanarayana, who is coordinating with the officials from Visakhapatnam.