Does Indian Railways give cover to its passengers? If yes, what kind of cover is it?
Mitali Sen, Jadhavpur
Yes, the Indian Railways does provide personal accident insurance cover to the passengers. The cover is provided to bona fide passenger ticket-holders, platform ticket-holders and season ticket-holders. Children up to the age of five years, who are not required to buy tickets, are also covered, provided they are travelling with ticketholders.
Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu had announced that the optional travel insurance for train journey will be available at the time of booking. The new facility will be available to all passengers, excluding those travelling by suburban trains while booking online irrespective of the class. The scheme offers travellers (or nominees or legal heirs) a compensation of Rs 10 lakh in the event of death or total disability and Rs 7.5 lakh for partial disability. There is also cover for hospitalisation expenses up to Rs 2 lakh and Rs 10,000 for transportation of mortal remains from the place of a train accident or where an untoward incident, including terrorist attack, rioting, shootout or arson, occurs.
