Indian Railways has hit a new low with the toll going to 13 accidents in 2010 and over 200 dead since Ms. Mamata Banerjee became Railway Minister for the second time. It amazes me that accident after accident our present government is keeping quiet and not even finding time to correct the wrongs of one of the most important ministry in their cabinet. 'Safety and security will be our principal concern' just to recall last years' railway budget speech. One needs to address issues of solutions, responsibility and accountability in that order.
1. Anti-Collision devices patented by Konkan Railway Corporation were duly tested and passed in 1999 by the parliament. 11 years and many governments later, Ministers and railway board officials still talk as if it is a new device which needs testing. In 2002, during the NDA regime anti-collision devices were retested and even commissioned on North Eastern Frontier railway. After a successful pilot, NDA government budgeted 17,000 crores for the implementation. Konkan Railway has also installed these devices on its 760 km long single line network. If minsters and stakeholders in the Indian government and parliament stop colliding with each other after every incident to gain political mileage, I am sure they can find the time and will to implement Anti-Collision devices throughout Indian Railway Network.
2. 4 of the 13 incidents in early part of 2010 were due to fog. Anti-Fog systems are also facing the same fate as Anti-Collision devices. IRCON international Ltd which is a public-sector enterprise has developed Anti-Fog systems and even implemented the same in other nations like Syria and Iraq but our rails are still awaiting an action.
3. On 7 February 2010, Ms. Mamata Banerjee announced start of nineteen new train services. Maximisation of revenue cannot be done at the cost of safety and security. Every minister of railways feels that their principal responsibility to their state and public can only be fulfilled by new trains. Such new trains weaken the already week infrastructure and are unnecessary drain on resources needed to fix larger issues.
4. It has become a common practice in our country for opposition to demand resignation and minister in-charge claiming sabotage and assuring enquiry. Between these two tracks, voice and issues of common man never reach their destination. It will be wrong for any party or person to demand resignation as that does not in any way end this series of accidents. We need to be asking for solutions not heads. Two accidents in a month in Bengal and all we get to hear from Ms. Mamata Banerjee is sabotage. How convenient it is to blame incidents on dead? As the Chairman and Minster have put all blame on the driver of the train in the incident yesterday. They should know better than to make statements like 'why did not the dead driver jump?' People serving at such high-echelons also need a lesson in not to think out loud in public. Coming to enquiry, Standing committee for railways has only railway officials on the board, so we can well imagine fate of the enquiry. Also, this committee then reports to Minister of Civil Aviation. Why? It is beyond my understanding.
5. We should be proud of having single largest rail network in the world but after 60 years of independence and many a governments, we still do not have a Disaster Management Team in place. Our minister yesterday called for Army to be deployed for the relief and rescue work. Calling Army for railway accidents that is like calling UN peace keeping force for unrest in a state. Someone needs to remind such people the role of different government bodies. Indian Army's role is to safeguard boundaries of our nation and not to add weight to ill-actions of railways or politicians.
6. Senior statesman and our finance minister Pranb Mukherjee who himself hails from Bengal says 'accident is an accident and cannot be foreseen'. Well that for me is wisdom personified. With the Bengal election around the corner in 2011, Congress has no option but to keep Trinamool congress as its political ally and can ill-afford to lose Ms. Mamata Banerjee if they have any chance of keeping CPI(M) away from the office. Railway minister should choose either 'Governance in Delhi' or 'Politics in Calcutta'. A ministry like Railway cannot be run like a BPO with the use of communication devices.
To serve public, one needs 'Excellent Time management', 'High Energy level' and 'Competence'. Even if we are ready to grant all these to the minster, where is the 'Accountability' which is the single most important factor?
Let us not ask for her resignation but we sure do have a right to ask for accountability.
