“The Railway Minister must own responsibility. Forget bullet trains, 27 train accidents have taken place since the Modi government took office,” the Congress said.
A DAY after 14 coaches of the Kalinga Utkal Express derailed in Muzaffarnagar, the Congress hit out at the government and asked Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu to take responsibility for the accident. It said 27 major railway accidents have taken place in the past three years, reflecting the “dismal safety record” of the government.
The NDA government has increased railway fares by 70 per cent since it assumed office, but no concrete blueprint had been laid down to secure lives of passengers, said Congress communication department head Randeep Surjewala. Claiming that safety protocols had been compromised with, he said “criminal negligence” on the part of Railways is responsible for the derailment.
The main opposition party asked why no “caution call” was made to the driver of Utkal Express if signaling work was underway on the tracks. “Will the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister, who regularly boast about laying new tracks, tell us why just 200 m of track in this area couldn’t be repaired for the past many months,” he said.
“An utterly dismal picture of accident preparedness is revealed by the fact that 65 private ambulances and local citizens with gas cutters rushed to the accident site, while Railway authorities and local administration reached much later.” “The Railway Minister, who continuously unveils grand schemes of privatisation and spends majority of the time on Twitter, has utterly failed to perform his primary duty to secure passengers. People demand basic facilities and a safe rail network. It is time the BJP government stops painting, polishing and garnishing the most important public transportation system which needs urgent tangible reforms that secure the commuters.”
The Congress claimed 27 major railway accidents have happened since May 2014, resulting in the death of 259 passengers. “The Railway Minister must own responsibility. Forget bullet trains, 27 train accidents have taken place since the Modi government took office.” “Every time there is an accident, the Railway authorities invent a fresh conspiracy to wash their hands of culpability, but facts speak otherwise,” he added.
