Bill to tweak Railways Act sent to House standing panel

The government on Monday beat a retreat in the Lok Sabha when the Opposition forced it to refer a Bill to change the definition of "accidental falling" in railways to the standing committee, after the House had completed a discussion on it.

The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2014, seeks to provide clarity on "accidental falling" from trains to curb misuse of existing provisions and prevent false claims. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said usually a Bill was never sent to a 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 August 7, was taken up for discussion and passage after Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda explained reasons for the proposed amendment. But there was strong attack from members cutting across party lines in the Opposition to the Bill, saying the Railways was trying to shed its responsibility in paying compensation to accident victims.

Gowda said the number of false claims has been increasing manifold and the proposed amendments would help to curb such claims.