Letter by Shri E A S Sarma, Former Secretary to the Government of India to minister of Railways
To
Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw
Railway Minister
Dear Shri Vaishnaw,
I refer to the ghastly accident that took place in the case of the Kanchanjunga Express in West Bengal on the 17th of June, 2024 in which 12 persons lost their lives and more than 40 severely injured
As referred in my two earlier letters of 5th June & 12th June 2023 addressed to you in connection with the disastrous Balasore railway accident in one year ago, in which 293 passengers lost their lives, more than anything else, there has been an overall governance failure at the highest level of your Ministry that lies at the root of all such accidents (https://countercurrents.org/2023/06/railway-accident-in-odisha-are-the-railways-ready-for-high-speed-trains-who-is-to-be-blamed/ & https://countercurrents.org/2023/06/odisha-train-accident-how-safe-are-other-sections-where-super-fast-trains-are-running-more-bullet-trains-being-launched/),
In my letters, I had specifically referred to the responsibility for accidents on the part of the Railway Ministry and all those who were responsible for introducing fast moving passenger trains, without taking preparatory measures to enhance track capacity, strengthen signaling systems, post adequate safety staff and optimise the working hours of loco pilots
There have been reports of tardiness in the installation of the anti-collision (“Kavach”) system in different zones (https://infra.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/railways/at-current-pace-and-funding-full-kavach-coverage-may-take-more-than-50-years/111221300), which has partly enhanced scope for accidents, especially when fast-moving trains are imposed on the system.
There has been a continuing neglect in filling up posts relating to safety and monitoring, which has weakened the traditional monitoring systems of the Railways. According to a reply given by the Railways in response to an RTI application (https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/1-52-lakh-safety-category-posts-vacant-says-railways-in-rti-reply/articleshow/111089532.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst), “out of around 10 lakh sanctioned posts under the safety category in the Indian Railways, more than 1.5 lahks are vacant, the Railway Ministry has said in response to an application under the Right to Information Act in March, 2024“
No wonder that there have been more accidents taking place, as the Railway Ministry continues to accord a lower priority to safety and a higher priority to dressing up railway stations and relentlessly flagging off Vande Bharats and other fast-moving passenger trains, unmindful of the consequences, namely, an overall reduction in the average speed of freight trains hurting the economy, causing pain and inconvenience to low-income passengers who depend on slower moving passenger trains, due to delays and over-crowding and, more importantly, endangering the lives of all passengers.
For example, a year after the devastating Balasore train accident, two goods trains collided near Madhopur in Sirhind, Punjab, injuring two locomotive pilots. The collision occurred around 4 AM on the Ambala-Sirhind railway track, one of the busiest routes in the region (https://www.mypunepulse.com/goods-trains-collide-in-punjab-loco-pilots-injured/#google_vignette) Had that accident occurred in the case of passenger trains, there would have been a repeat of Balasore!
As I mentioned in my earlier letters, many “near-miss accidents” due to systemic failures in the Railways go unreported, the public unaware of the potential risk to their lives.
There has been a tendency on the part of your Ministry to obfuscate the independent role of the Railway Safety Commission by ordering parallel investigations, as a result of which some important reports of the Commission have not come into the public domain for the public and the Parliament to see and discuss. It has also become customary for your Ministry to place the blame for every accident on over-worked junior officials, perhaps to exonerate those who failed at senior levels.
Mr Minister, may I remind you that one of your illustrious and perhaps a more sensitive Railway Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri ji “resigned his post as Minister for Railways because he felt responsible for a railway accident in which many lives were lost. The unprecedented gesture was greatly appreciated by Parliament and the country” (https://www.pmindia.gov.in/en/former_pm/shri-lal-bahadur-shastri/)!
Good governance implies owning responsibility for governance failures at the highest level and subjecting oneself to public accountability, more than anyone else.
I sincerely hope that the Railway Ministry is not waiting for yet another disastrous accident to awaken its conscience!!!
Yours sincerely,
E A S Sarma
Former Secretary to the Government of India
Visakhapatnam