By IANS
New Delhi : Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav has ruled out giving jobs higher than Class IV category to dependents of the victims of the July 2006 bomb blasts in Mumbai’s trains.
Over 200 people died and some 700 were injured in the blasts that took place simultaneously in a number of trains. The Indian Railways had then offered jobs to 108 dependents of the victims.
Rajya Sabha member Rajeev Chandrasekhar was upset over reports that even graduates and post-graduates had been offered Class IV employment and wanted to know if the railway ministry would give jobs befitting people’s educational qualification.
In response to his query, Lalu Prasad told the Rajya Sabha Monday: “There is no provision in the rules of the Indian Railways for employment to dependents of victims of accidents or bomb blasts either in Group C or in Group D services.
“However, in exception to the rules, purely as a humanitarian gesture, the railways have taken a decision to provide employment to the ward or legal heirs of the victims of the Mumbai bomb blasts in Group D category.”
The minister expressed his inability to give them jobs in accordance with their qualifications.