The Centre on Thursday submitted before the Supreme Court that it would take up the concerns raised by petitioners regarding the proposed railway travel concession policy for acid attack survivors with the Railway Minister, assuring that the issues would be resolved.
The submission was made in a petition filed by Atijeevan Society, which seeks railway travel concessions and other travel-related facilities for acid attack survivors who need to undertake repeated journeys for medical treatment.
The Centre submitted pursuant to the Court’s August 13 order, it had placed a draft policy on record. It further submitted that a joint discussion had subsequently been held with the petitioners and government officials, following which the petitioners had made additional suggestions.
The Centre sought an opportunity to explain the proposed policy to the Court, including the concessions being offered, the terms and conditions attached to them and the reasons for adopting the proposed framework. It submitted that the Court could hear its explanation point by point before considering the petitioners’ further suggestions.
Responding to this, counsel for the petitioners submitted that they had already conveyed their objections and suggestions to the government. The petitioners had examined how the proposed policy addressed, or failed to address, the requirements of acid attack survivors in light of the relief originally sought in the petition.
Counsel sought permission to file an additional affidavit placing their response to the draft policy on record. During the hearing, the Centre stated that the matter could be resolved through further discussions and informed the Court that it would speak to the Railway Minister. The court agreed to that and permitted the petitioners to place an additional affidavit on record.
Background of the Case
The PIL filed by Atijeevan Society seeks railway travel concessions and emergency reservation facilities for acid attack survivors who frequently need to travel to specialised hospitals in different cities for treatment and follow-up procedures.
On August 13, the Supreme Court had granted the Centre six weeks to place a draft policy on record after the Railway Board agreed in principle to provide concessions to acid attack survivors under the existing ‘patient category’. The proposal followed the Court’s consideration of difficulties faced by survivors who require repeated medical visits, sometimes across different States. The petitioners had also highlighted limitations in the existing patient-category concession, including the need for repeated medical certificates and the difficulty of securing travel at short notice.
The petitioners had urged that survivors be considered for concessions under the disability category and had also sought an emergency travel quota.