Prayagraj to get new Rly Claims Tribunal bench

Allahabad: With the Centre deciding to establish a bench of Railway Claims Tribunal (RCT) in Allahabad, passengers injured in train accidents wouldn't have to travel to Lucknow, Gorakhpur or Ghaziabad to settle their claims.

This would be the 20th bench of the tribunal in the country. Till now, there were three NCR claims tribunal benches in the state at Lucknow, Gorakhpur and Ghaziabad.

The notification was issued in the Gazette of the Government of India was issued on Thursday. "The new bench will cater to Banda, Bhadohi (Sant Ravidas Nagar), Chandauli, Chitrakoot, Fatehpur, Jalaun, Jaunpur, Jhansi, Kannauj, Kaushambi, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Mirzapur, Pratapgarh, Allahabad, Sonbhadra (Robertsganj) and Varanasi districts," said NCR chief public relations officer Ajit Kumar Singh.

Despite being the headquarters of NCR, Allahabad did not have a claims tribunal. Citizens involved in train accidents and officials had to go to the any of three others benches of RCT in the state. Apart from this, the administrative head of North Zone will also be the vice chairman (technical), Allahabad which will have under its jurisdiction the railway claims tribunal benches of Allahabad, Chandigarh, Delhi, Gorakhpur and Lucknow.