The Congress party has sharpened its attack on the Narendra Modi government two days after the tragic triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore that claimed around 288 lives while over 1100 were injured. Congress leaders have accused the Modi government of ignoring several red flags and indulging only in a PR exercise. Taking to Twitter, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that advertising PR gimmicks have made the working system of the Modi government hollow. He also posed several questions to the Modi government.
‘Lakhs Of Vacancies, Repair Warning Ignored’
“3 lakh posts are vacant in Railways, the posts of top officers that PMO recruits are also vacant, why were they not filled in 9 years? The Railway Board itself has recently admitted that long working hours of loco pilots due to acute shortage of manpower is the main reason for the increasing number of accidents. Then why the posts were not filled? The Principal Chief Operating Manager of South Western Railway Zone urged and warned to repair the signalling system on 8 February 2023, citing a tragedy in Mysore in which two trains were saved from a collision. Why didn’t the Ministry of Railways implement it?” asked Kharge.
The Congress president further said that the Parliamentary Standing Committee in its 323rd report criticized the Indian Railways for the “disregard” shown by the Railway Board towards the recommendations of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). He claimed that the CRS investigates only 8-10% of accidents. Kharge asked why the Modi government did not strengthen the CRS.
‘Shortfall In Funding, Decline In Renewal Works’
“As per CAG, a 79% funding shortfall was recorded in Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK), while Rs 20,000 Cr was to be made available every year. Why has there been a huge decline in the amount of track renewal works? The train collision avoidance system developed by India’s Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) in 2011 was renamed by the Modi government as “Kavach” and was demonstrated by the Railway Minister himself in March 2022. Still why only 4% of routes have Kavach till now?” asked Kharge.
Kharge said that victims of the train accident will get justice only if accountability from the top to bottom is fixed. “Mr. Modi, You are busy flagging off the whitewashed trains every day but do not pay any attention to rail safety. Accountability of the posts from top to bottom has to be fixed so that such accidents can be prevented from happening in future,” said Kharge.
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‘Recipe For Disaster: Sibal’
Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal also attacked the Modi government and said one minister cannot deal with large ministries like Railways as well as Communications, Electronics and Information Technology, as being done by Ashwini Vaishnaw, the current rail minister. “Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister for IT and Electronics, Minister for Railways. No Railway Budget. No Accountability. One minister cannot deal with such large ministries. Bullet Trains. Vande Bharat. Serve the extraordinary, let down the ordinary! Recipe for disaster!” said Sibal.
‘Rail Minister Should Resign’
The Congress party also demanded the resignation of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw over the Odisha rail tragedy. The grand old party alleged that PR gimmicks overshadowed the “serious deficiencies, criminal negligence and complete disregard for safety and security” of Indian Railways. “We don’t look for political scores during human tragedy. Madhavrao Scindia, Nitish Kumar, and Lal Bahadur Shastri gave resignations on moral grounds. Railways Minister should take responsibility but Modi and morals travel in opposite directions,” said the Congress party.
Odisha Train Accident Backgroud
The triple train pile-up near Balasore on Friday disrupted passenger and goods traffic between important industrial centres. Many of the patients initially admitted to Balasore and other local hospitals have been released or shifted to bigger cities with multi-speciality hospitals including Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Kolkata. The accident involving two passenger trains and a goods train in Odisha’s Balasore district killed at least 288 people and injured more than 1100, in one of the worst railway tragedies in the country. The Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train, derailing most of its coaches at around 7 pm Friday. A few passenger wagons of Coromandel whiplashed the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Express which was passing by at the same time. (With Agency inputs)
Source: Bureau
