Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan inspecting the repair work at the accident site of three trains in Balasore district on June 4. (Image: PTI)
The biggest challenge before Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav is the worst train accident in the last two decades. But government sources cited his constructive approach of camping in Balasore to take charge instead of engaging in political battles
Railway minister should resign on train accidents? Politics has erupted on this question with government officials citing the dedication of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, who has camped at the accident site for the last 30 hours, while opposition leaders are demanding his resignation.
Let’s look at the facts first. Even before this, Railway Ministers have witnessed major accidents on their own terms in which huge loss of lives has taken place. For example, when Nitish Kumar was the railways minister for two terms in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government, a total of 1,527 deaths were recorded as a result of 1,079 accidents (both collisions and derailments), according to ministry data.
Data shows that 1,451 deaths occurred in 893 accidents during the tenure of Mamata Banerjee (who served under both Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh). Lalu Prasad Yadav’s tenure (government headed by Manmohan Singh from May 2004 to May 2009) also saw 1,150 deaths in 601 accidents.
In fact, Kumar’s tenure was affected by maximum train accidents, with 1,000 derailments and 79 collisions, followed by Mamata’s tenure with 839 derailments. In fact, the Chief Minister of Bihar even resigned in August 1999 for the Gasel train accident that claimed 285 lives.
Vaishnav as Railway Minister, however, faces his biggest challenge with the worst train accident in the last two decades. But government sources cite his constructive approach of camping in Balasore instead of engaging in political battles.
“In the past, we saw that the action of Railway Ministers was limited to taking photographs only during accidents. People like Mamta Banerjee had also done politics then. But Vaishnav has been on the spot for over 30 hours and is tirelessly involved in rescue and other relief efforts,” said a senior government official.
Government sources further cited how all agencies were working together – Railways, Ministry of Home Affairs and the National Disaster Response Force in harmony – as part of the Prime Minister’s directive for a “whole of government approach” unlike the silo approach in the past. were working Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has also been dispatched to ensure coordination of medical treatment and reduce the death rate.
In fact, if we look at the official statistics, there has been a decrease in rail accidents in the last decade itself. From 2012-13 to 2022-23, during the tenure of nine ministers (both UPA and NDA), the Indian Railways recorded 878 accidents, including collisions, derailments, fires, etc. The number is close to Mamata’s personal record in her two terms and less than Kumar’s. In comparison, the Railways recorded a total of 2,147 accidents in the decade from 2002-03 to 2011-12.
Government officials said the opposition, led by Mamata and Congress leaders, questioned Vaishnav over the absence of the Kavach (anti-collision) system on this particular section, but facts now show that the system could not have averted the accident.
In the present case, the distance between the Coromandel Express and the goods train was just 100 meters in which the passenger train collided after wrongly entering the loop line. Officials said a distance of at least 600 meters is needed to activate the Kavach and this is only for the main line.
Vaishnav is camping in Balasore, an area where he was once posted as district collector two decades ago. He has a good knowledge of the area and the facilities available. However, the politicization over the accident continues and the opposition is taking aim at him.
