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The Ministry of Railways hereby advises the public including NGOs, Trusts and Voluntary Organisations to book their relief material, free of charges in the name of District Magistrates or Relief Commissioner of the notified Tsunami affected States/Districts/Union Territories. As per the direction of the Ministry of Home Affairs, the transportation and distribution of relief material is channelised by the State Governments in order to have proper control and efficient disaster management. This is the established practice and procedure having been followed in the past few years. Free of cost consignment in the name of private party or individual is not acceptable unless the consignee is District Magistrate or Relief Commissioner of the notified Tsunami affected States.
However, an exception was made in respect of 90 quintals of relief and aid material brought to New Delhi Railway Station on January 1, 2005 by the Delhi Pradesh BJP President, Dr. Harshvardhan although the consignee was Shri Mohan Raju, General Secretary, BJP, Chennai. Even if this consignment was not as per the prescribed procedure, this relief and aid material was loaded and transported free of charge on January 3, 2005 as an exception so that there was no hitch in supply of relief material to Tsunami affected region. All the consigners are, therefore, advised to follow the prescribed procedure of booking their relief material to avoid any inconvenience or delays in such relief efforts.
Pursuant to a request made by the Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, the Resident Commissioners of different States in Delhi have been allowed to consign the relief or aid materials free of charges by the railways. Orders to this affect have already been issued by the Ministry of Railways.
Indian Railways have been in the forefront in providing relief at times of disasters and calamities and have moved relief materials to various States affected by droughts, floods or earthquakes or cyclone etc. in the past. The Minister of Railways have taken a suo-motto decision to permit free transportation of relief and aid material to the Tsunami affected regions.
MYS/SKS/NSR
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