Congress boards Odisha rail mishap to turn heat on Modi govt
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, June 6: Battle line is now sharply drawn between the Opposition Congress and the ruling Baratiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Odisha rail mishap that left 288 passengers dead and over thousand injured. While the Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw camped at the accident site to oversee the relief and rescue operations, as well as restoration of the tracks, the Congress has upped the ante against Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre.
The Congress in a presser called for accountability for the Balasore triple train accident. The Congress has accused the government of cutting down the budgetary support for the railway safety fund. The Congress has also alleged that there existed over three lakh vacancies in the railways of the safety personnel.
Vaishnaw is likely to hold video conference meeting from the Rail Bhavan with all the zonal and divisional railway managers in a move which is seen as a damage control. The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) tabled in parliament last year has come handy for the Congress to attack the Modi government.
The top auditor had claimed that 70 per cent of the rail accidents were on account of derailments. The CAG had also stated that the safety fund of Rs one lakh crore for five years, constituted in 2017 was not funded fully by the Railways. The CAG had claimed that Rs 5000 crore to be provided for from the internal accrual of the Railways was not given to the safety fund, with gap being to the extent of 70 per cent.
However, the Ministry of Railways circulated a note last night claiming that the CAG report had covered expenses only up to 2021, while over Rs one lakh crore has been spent for the safety works. The Railways claimed that latest data showed that the Ministry had spent close to Rs 60,000 crore alone on the track renewal, which is also part of the safety works.
While Vaishnaw is puling socks to get the zonal and divisional railways to be fully prepared to avert any repeat of the Balasore accident, which is being attributed to the signaling malfunction, with some even suggesting sabotage angle, the Ministry has called for a CBI probe into the mishap. The Congress has gone on an overdrive to attack the government by accusing that the Railways has overly been focused on the launch of branded trains such as Vande Bharat, while safety aspects have been compromised.
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