Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, on Friday, informed the Parliament that the railways lost 2,903 employees to the COVID-19 pandemic. The settlement of dues has been made with families of those who died in 2,782 cases, and compassionate appointments have been made in 1,732 cases, he clarified in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
"Indian Railways has a policy for giving appointment on compassionate ground to dependents of Railway servants who lose their lives in the course of duty or die in harness or are medically incapacitated. Dependents of family members of Railway employees who lost their life to COVID-19 are covered under the scheme of compassionate ground appointment," Vaishnaw said.
Regarding vaccination, he clarified that 8,63,868 Railway employees have been given the first dose of vaccine and 2,34,184 the second dose.
"A sufficient number of vaccination centres have been established and staff has been deployed for vaccination drive in Railways. Every effort is being made to vaccinate all Railway employees at the earliest subject to availability of vaccine doses and willingness of the employees to get vaccinated," Vaishnaw said.