Title - Railways to blame for poor passenger safety

The calamitous fire in Tamil Nadu Express, in which at least 40 people were charred to death, early on Monday morning has again underlined the callous attitude of the Indian Railways toward passenger safety. While a statutory inquiry has been instituted, reports indicate that the fire broke out due to short-circuiting, a clear case of negligence in maintenance. Passenger safety cannot be compromised on the plea of lack of funds and the government has no excuse to delay implementation of the recommendations of the high-level committee on railway safety. Before embarking on ambitious programmes such as introduction of high-speed bullet trains, the railways must concentrate on improving its basic infrastructure, for the safety of millions of passengers who use its services daily.The Trinamool Congress, to which railway minister Mukul Roy belongs, can hardly be absolved of blame for the sorry state of railway finances. The big ruckus the party’s chief Mamata Banerjee made when erstwhile railway minister Dinesh Trivedi of her own party announced a selective hike in passenger fares frustrated all attempts to bring the economy of the railways back on rails. Not only was Trivedi forced to quit but Mukul Roy was brought in as replacement and his first act was to roll back the proposed hike in fares. Now for Roy to cry wolf on the state of railway finances and to demand more central funds to finance passenger safety measures is, to say the least, preposterous. Indeed, it is Mamata and her cronies who need to be taken to task for their monumental mismanagement. Sadly, Mukul Roy has no time for railways. The hard reality is that ever since the Trinamool Congress has taken over railways, safety has become its victim.

It would be very unwise for the behemoth that the Indian Railways is to be allowed to drift along as an unimaginative minister holds the reins with little but the motivation to please his boss. Manmohan Singh as prime minister cannot disown responsibility — he must hold Mukul Roy duly accountable.