Govt should accept that wrong announcement was made: Ex-Railway Minister

Former Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, on Sunday, slammed the government for allegedly neglecting the safety of the devotees a day after 18 people died in a stampede at New Delhi Railway station, with several others were left injured.

Bansal told ANI, "...The government should accept that a wrong announcement was made leading to the incident."

Responding to a query on the government announcing compensation for the families of the victims, he said, " Compensation does not absolve you (government) of your responsibilities, and it will lessen the gravity of the offence. These are two different things," he said referring to the tragedy and the compensation.

He further said that state governments always announce compensation on such occasions. "Should not the government have spared a thought about the crowd management considering devotees gathering in large numbers to travel for Maha Kumbh, especially at the railway stations?"

A tragic incident unfolded at New Delhi Railway Station when a passenger lost balance and slipped on the stairs leading to platforms 14 and 15, resulting in several others getting injured, Northern Railway CPRO told ANI.

Meanwhile, a two-member committee has been formed to investigate the incident.

The committee comprises Narsingh Deo, Northern Railway's Principal Chief Commercial Manager (PCCM), and Pankaj Gangwar, its Principal Chief Safety Commissioner (PCSC), the railways said on Sunday.

The committee has initiated a High-Level Inquiry (HAG) into the incident, the Railways said. As part of the investigation, the committee has ordered the securing of all video footage from the Railway Station to aid in the probe.

The tragedy occurred at 10 p.m. on Saturday as lakhs of devotees were heading to Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh 2025 festival, causing significant overcrowding at the station.

The deceased were identified as Aaha Devi, 79, Pinky Devi, 41, Sheela Devi, 50, Vyom, 25, Poonam Devi, 40, Lalita Devi, 35, Suruchi, 11; Krishna Devi, 40, Vijay Sah, 15, Neeraj, 12, Shanti Devi, 40, Pooja Kumar, 8, Sangeeta Malik and Poonam, both aged 34, Mamta Jha, 40, Riya Singh, 7, Baby Kumari, 24, and Manoj, 47.

The Indian Railways has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the families of the deceased and compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh was announced for the seriously injured and Rs 1 lakh for those with minor injuries.