Accusing the Central Government of "destroying" Indian Railways, the Congress on Tuesday demanded Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's resignation in the wake of the Kanchanjunga Express accident and said that he has no moral right to remain in the position.
The opposition party also took a swipe at Vaishnaw for reaching the accident site riding pillion on a motorcycle, asking whether he is a rail minister or a "reel minister".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said whenever there is a train accident, Modi government's railway minister reaches the spot under the glare of cameras and behaves as if everything is fine. Kharge also posed seven questions to the government and demanded answers.
After a major accident like Balasore, why was not even a single kilometer of the much-hyped "Kavach" anti-train collision system added, he asked.
"Why are nearly 3 lakh posts vacant in the Railways, why were they not filled in the last 10 years? According to the NCRB (2022) report, 1,00,000 people have died in rail accidents between 2017 and 2021 alone! Who will take responsibility for this?" the Congress chief asked.
The Railway Board itself has admitted that the long working hours of loco pilots due to acute shortage of manpower are the main reason for the increasing number of accidents, he said and asked why were the posts not filled.
"In its 323rd report, the Parliamentary Standing Committee had criticised the Railways for the 'neglect' shown by the Railway Board towards the recommendations of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS). It was underlined that the CRS investigates only 8%-10% of accidents, why was the CRS not strengthened?" Kharge asked.
According to the CAG, why was 75% funding reduced in the 'Rashtriya Rail Suraksha Kosh' (RRSK), while Rs 20,000 crore was to be made available every year, he asked.
"Why has travelling by train in the common Sleeper Class become very expensive? Why has the number of Sleeper Coaches been reduced? The Railway Minister recently said to use police force against the people 'overcrowding' rail coaches. But does he not know that 2.7 crore people had to cancel their tickets last year due to abysmal shortage of seats — a direct result of Modi government's policy to reduce coaches?" Kharge said.
Addressing a Press conference at the AICC headquarters, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said the Railways is perhaps the most preferred mode of transport as far as the middle class, lower middle class and the poor are concerned simply because it is the most economical means of transportation.
She showed pictures of the Balasore train accident last June and of Monday's accident, and asked what had changed between this period.
Shrinate said that as many as 1,117 railway accidents had taken place since 2014-23, which means an accident every three days.
"Who is going to take the moral responsibility for this? We have seen the railway ministers in the past own up moral responsibility and resign from their position of power. But here we have a minister who does not miss an opportunity even in the time of plight and tragedy to make reels. He is not the rail minister, he is the reels minister of India," Shrinate said.
