Stepping up its attack on Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after the Kanchanjunga Express train accident, the Congress on Tuesday demanded his resignation and accused the Narendra Modi government of “destroying” Indian Railways in the past 10 years.
The Opposition party also took a dig at Mr. Vaishnaw for reaching the accident site riding pillion on a motorcycle, and asked whether he is was a Rail Minister or a “reel minister”. In a statement posted on social media platform X, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that whenever there was a train accident, the Modi government’s Railways Minister reached the spot under the glare of cameras and behaved as if everything was fine.
“Narendra Modi ji, tell us who should be held accountable, the Railway Minister or you?” Mr. Kharge asked, posing seven questions.
“Why are nearly 3 lakh posts vacant in the Railways, why were they not filled in the last 10 years? According to the NCRB (2022) report, 1,00,000 people have died in rail accidents between 2017 and 2021 alone! Who will take responsibility for this?” the Congress chief asked.
The Railway Board itself has admitted that the long working hours of loco pilots due to acute shortage of manpower are the main reason for the increasing number of accidents, he added. Mr. Kharge also questioned why not a single kilometre of the much-hyped ‘Kavach’ anti-train collision system had been added after the major accident in Balasore in 2023.
“In its 323rd report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee had criticised the Railways for the ‘neglect’ shown by the Railway Board towards the recommendations of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). It was underlined that the CRS investigates only 8%-10% of accidents, why was the CRS not strengthened?” Mr. Kharge said.
The Congress president, quoting a Comptroller and Auditor General report, asked why the funding to the Rashtriya Rail Suraksha Kosh had been reduced by 75%, whereas ₹20,000 crore was to be made available every year. “Why is this money being used by railway officials on unnecessary expenses and comfort facilities? Did the Modi government merge the railway budget with the general budget in 2017-18 to avoid any kind of accountability?” he asked.
“Self-glorification will not undo the criminal negligence perpetrated by the Modi government on the Indian Railways! Accountability needs to be fixed at the top,” Mr. Kharge said in his posts.
Addressing a press conference at the All India Congress Committee headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate as many as 1,117 railway accidents had taken place from 2014 to 2023, which meant there had been “an accident every three days”.
“Who is going to take the moral responsibility for this? We have seen the Railway Ministers in the past own up moral responsibility and resign from their position of power. But here we have a Minister who does not miss an opportunity even in the time of plight and tragedy to make reels. He is not the Rail Minister, he is the reels minister of India,” she said.
On being asked if the Congress was seeking the resignation of the Railway Minister, she said, “Absolutely, without a doubt, without blinking an eyelid.” “Ashwini Vaishnaw has no moral authority to remain in the position that he continues to enjoy,” Ms. Shrinate said.
Published - June 18, 2024 06:31 pm IST
