Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala on Sunday posed nine questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the horrific triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore, while demanding immediate sacking of railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. Referring to a news report by ThePrint, Surjewala asked why the rail minister was negligent towards the “critical warning” on the failure of the signalling system.
The report suggests that officials within the railway board had warned about “serious flaws in the system” and raised concerns about the failure of interlocking in February and sought immediate action.
“He also warned that if the signal maintenance system was not monitored and corrected immediately, it could lead to ‘re-occurrence and serious accidents’,” Surjewala said in a tweet.
“Why was rail minister and railway ministry immune or ignorant or negligent?” he asked.
Odisha train accident LIVE updates
Citing the recent derailments of freight trains, Surjewala asked why such incidents didn't raise enough alarms about the lack of rail safety forcing the railway ministry to take appropriate measures.
“Is it correct that Rail Minister is more concerned with marketing and pleasing the Prime Minister rather than concentrate on Railway Safety? Is the Rail Minister too pre-occupied with making the PM launch Vande Bharat Trains, refurbishing Railway Stations (tweeting their pictures) and increasing revenues rather than looking at the arduous job of ensuring passenger safety? (sic)” the Congress leader said.
"Is this the reason why the Railway Minister largely skipped the presentation on Railway Safety on 2 June 2023 in the Chintan Shivir (hours before the #OdishaTrainAccident ) and concentrated on the launch of Vande Bharat Trains and increased revenues," Surjewala added.
{{/usCountry}}"Is this the reason why the Railway Minister largely skipped the presentation on Railway Safety on 2 June 2023 in the Chintan Shivir (hours before the #OdishaTrainAccident ) and concentrated on the launch of Vande Bharat Trains and increased revenues," Surjewala added.
{{/usCountry}}The Rajya Sabha member also questioned the government's decision to burden a rail minister with the additional charge of big ministries like IT & Telecom, “making Railway as a secondary job & jeopardising safety.”
Highlighting the vacancies in railways and the alleged lack of human resources, Surjewala wrote, “How is it possible to run an effective and safe operation in absence of staff?”
With the absence of Train Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) or Kavach on the rain route where the triple train accident occurred, Surjewala asked why the system has not been implemented across railway zones.
At least 288 people were killed and hundreds more injured in a horrific three-train collision in Odisha's Balasore. India's deadliest rail accident in over two decades is a stark reminder of safety issues that continue to challenge the vast railway system that transports nearly 22 million passengers each day.