KARACHI, Jan 30: The Pakistan Railways carries an average load of 200,000 passengers everyday in about 230 daily operations but it does not provide any insurance cover to its commuters, luggage or to its own equipment and machinery.
How vulnerable is the railway journey for the passengers has emerged as a big issue again when a Lahore-bound train met a serious mishap near Jehlum on Sunday evening that is said to have claimed six lives and over 50 were injured.
Less than six months ago in July 2005, three trains rammed near Ghotki, killing more than 130 and injuring over 1,000. Many of them were maimed for life.
A number of insurance companies, including the public sector National Insurance Corporation, during the last five years offered proposals for insurance cover but the Railways as well as the government contemptuously ignored them. The government too has given a deaf ear to the proposals for compensation to the passengers of public transport. One such proposal was given by a former chairman of the State Life Insurance Corporation.
According to insurance sources, the public sector insurance corporation offered the first proposal way back in 2002. It was a detailed proposal that stipulated the working of the scheme also. The Pakistan Railways provided the facts, data, information and figures of the last 10 years of revenue, expenditure, accidents, loss and damages and compensation. It was then estimated that premium for such an insurance coverage would hardly be 1.5 per cent of the total revenue of the Pakistan Railways.
The Pakistan Railways opted to explore insurance business with private insurance companies. The insurance sources say that as a result of these negotiations, the Pakistan Railways increased the passenger tariff by one to two rupees to pay for the premium but it never bought the insurance scheme.
The National Insurance Corporation is said to have revived its proposal recently at the beginning of the current fiscal year before the Ghotki tragedy in which more than 130 passengers lost their lives and over 1,000 were injured. Many of them were maimed for life and were never compensated adequately.
In its annual report for the year 2004, the National Insurance Corporation observed: “It is surprising to note that at present the railway system is not insured. We have seen many railway accidents over the years, which cause damage to the tracks, engines and carriages, in addition to the accidental death of innocent precious human lives.” Therefore, the NICL annual report stresses that Pakistan dearly needs to have an insurance scheme to cover the railway system and its passengers.
The corporation has also proposed a public transport insurance scheme that should cover both the vehicle and the passenger. The report mentions that such schemes are operated by the Motor Insurance Bureau of Britain, the Guarantee Funds for German Insurance Industry and the Motor Accidents Commission in Australia.
In case of the Pakistan Railways, the passenger earnings comprise more than 50 per cent of the revenue and are now said to be close to Rs6 billion in a year, but the journey remains without any risk cover. More than 70 million passengers travel by railways every year.