Global Courant
Indian Railways carries more than 23 million passengers daily, many of whom are poor migrant workers. Due to the current government’s underinvestment in security components, ordinary people are losing confidence in this mode of transportation.
A railway safety fund was introduced in 2017-2018, but money allocated for track renewal was reportedly not used effectively. Spending on safety improvement programs for India’s fleet of more than 13,000 older trains has fallen.
Railway lines have suffered from years of overdue maintenance and were not built to handle the stress of the fast-moving trains that now run across the country. Moreover, political hype has overtaken fact and reality.
The seriousness of the safety problem at Indian Railways came to the fore following the recent fatal rail accident in Odisha, which killed 292 passengers and seriously injured 1,100.
The Government of India’s National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) notes that approximately 260,000 people have lost their lives in train accidents in the past 10 years, and the vast majority of these deaths were caused by people either falling off trains or being run over by them.
More than 120,000 cattle have also fallen prey to train accidents in the past four years. These cattle are the main source of income for poor people.
India’s highest oversight body, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), in its 2022 annual report on “Derailments at the Indian Railwaysheld the Indian Railways engineering department responsible for the majority of the derailments.
Last year’s CAG report highlighted three issues relevant to track maintenance:
Reduction in rail maintenance funding in recent years. Funds allocated for track maintenance were reallocated to other projects. In some cases, the funds were underused: as much as 25% of the allocated funds were repaid (a sign of bureaucratic hurdles).
The CAG report also listed serious deficiencies in inspections, failure to submit or accept post-accident investigation reports, failure to use a dedicated rail fund for priority tasks, a declining trend in track renewal funding, and insufficient personnel in safety operations as serious concerns.
The official data reveals staggering underemployment, straining the system and its current employees. Indian Railways is teetering under a crushing staff shortage, with 312,000 unpublished posts vacant across the country, as reported by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in parliament last year.
At the Central Railways, almost 50% (14,203) of the 28,650 vacant posts fall into the safety category, which mainly includes operating and maintenance personnel, such as various types of inspectors, train drivers, train examiners and shunters.
The report further said that fire extinguishers had not been provided in 27,763 buses (62%), in violation of existing standards. This is evidence of terrible management, costing many valuable lives and livelihoods.
Despite the fact that 99% of rail travelers come from poor and middle-income backgrounds, the railroad has generated tens of millions from ticket cancellations. These cancellation fees are an additional burden for ordinary people, especially poor migrant workers, for whom the train is the lifeblood of their daily commute to earn a living for their families.
The government should revisit its current policy of neglecting the rail network, prioritize investment in rail infrastructure and ensure that passenger safety is the top priority.
Since the railway network is the lifeblood of the vast majority of the country’s poor people, the government should come up with a plan to allow the poor to travel for free. In addition, the government should consider a full-time dedicated railway minister to efficiently manage the second largest rail network in the world.
Similar:
Loading…
