The Hindu : National : Railways to transport relief material free of cost

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Sunday, Jan 09, 2005

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Railways to transport relief material free of cost

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JAN. 8. The Railway Ministry has asked the public, including NGOs, Trusts and Voluntary Organisations, to book their relief material free of transportation charges in the name of District Magistrates or Relief Commissioner of the notified tsunami-affected States/Districts/Union Territories.

Similarly, the Resident Commissioners of various States based in Delhi have been permitted to book transportation of relief material free of cost for which the Ministry has issued orders.

The Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary had sought the extension of the facility to the State Resident Commissioner in Delhi. It has been clarified that the consignment in the name of a private party or individual for free transportation will not be not accepted unless the consignee is the District Magistrate or the Relief Commissioner of the notified tsunami-affected States.

The Railway Ministry has come out with advice and clarification in view of the Home Ministry's direction that the transportation and distribution of relief material is being channelled by the State Governments to have proper control and efficient disaster management. In fact, this is the established practice and procedure being followed in the past few years.

However, the Railway Ministry had made an exception in relation to 90 quintals of relief and aid material brought to the New Delhi Railway Station on January 1 by the Delhi Pradesh BJP president, Harshvardhan, though the consignee was Mohan Raju, general secretary, BJP, Chennai.

Even if this consignment was not in accordance with the prescribed procedure, it was transported free of charge on January as an exception so that there was no hitch in the supply of relief material.

The Railways asked all the consigners to follow the prescribed procedure of booking to avoid any inconvenience or delays.

Having moved relief materials to various States affected by droughts, floods or earthquakes or cyclone in the past, the Railways took a suo motu decision to permit free transportation of relief and aid material to the tsunami-affected regions and started moving aid on a priority basis.

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