At a meeting of the Coalition for Safe Rail Travel CSRT meeting held on 6 July 2013, Moneylife Foundation felicitated Samir Zaveri on being recognised at a true Mumbai hero by Mumbai Mirror.
Samir Zaveri is an extraordinary activist who has dedicated his life to helping railway accident victims and passengers over the past 20 years without expecting anything I return. Zaveri lost both is legs at the age of 16, when a local train hit him near Borivali. As he says, he would almost certainly have almost died, if someone had not helped him and rushed him to hospital in that first crucial ‘golden hour’ when so many victims simply bleed to death.
Ever since, he has been striving to help railway victims – his mission has now gone far beyond merely saving lives. Apart from medical care for accident victims, it extends to helping them get compensation. He got the Railways to install medical facilities at Dadar station through an order from the Bombay High Court, which also ordered payments to private hospitals (to ensure that victims are taken to the nearest hospital) and to ambulance services and helpers, in order to ensure they make haste to help.
He single-handedly does more to push for safe rail travel than other activists put together. His transport is a scooter with sidecar. He uses RTI and litigation effectively to expose the loot and corruption and demand better medical facilities at stations. Corrupt sections of the railway police have filed false civil and criminal cases against him because he has busted their illegal railway court at Kurla Station, through which the railway police used to arrest people travelling with their savings and used to release them on fake bail bonds.
Samir has witnessed the callousness of the Railways, Railway Protection Force (RPF) and even state-managed Government Railway Police (GRP) on several occasions. He even faced the wrath of the Railways and Police for his tireless, never giving up spirit and humble attitude and has now won the case against the Railways and Police.
If anyone asks the ever-optimistic and cheerful Samir Zaveri what they can do to help – he has a stock answer -“All I need is support”. Moneylife Foundation decided to do this by creating a platform for like- minded activists to network and coordinate for the cause of helping railway passengers. The Coalition for Safe Rail Travel meets on every first Saturday of the month at Moneylife’s Knowledge Centre at Dadar. Among its active supporters are veteran activist, Dipak Gandhi, chairman of the Mumbai Suburban Passengers’ Association, activist Gaurang Damani and others. To know more details, Those interested in being a part of this group may please write to Moneylife Foundation at [email protected]. You can also join our Twitter account @SafeRailTravel.
Like Samir Zaveri, you are invited to become a Moneylife Foundation member today. Also enjoy 16 free benefits on registering as a Foundation member.
