The weakest Railway ministry ever from Independence. Shocked to see he reply on railways accidents.
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NEW DELHI, 4 AUG: The railway minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi (in file photo), faced questions on rail accidents in both Houses of Parliament, today. In the Rajya Sabha, he spoke of a Railways Safety Board to address the issue; in the Lok Sabha he could only agree with the members that the matter was “serious.”
Replying...
more... to a calling attention debate on “frequent rail accidents” in the Upper House, the new railway minister said the Indian Railways was one of the safest in the world. Still, he said, “We need to reach a situation where there are no rail accidents and deaths.”
For this, he said, “there is a need to set up a Railways Safety Board. An independent Railways Safety Board comprising experts in the field will help bring down accidents by analysing railway accidents and ascertaining their cause.”
Facing the Lower House for the first time after taking charge, Mr Trivedi appeared to be at loss of words while replying to members’ concerns on the issue. “It is a serious matter. There is no disagreement in saying that we are all concerned, ” he said replying to Mr Vilas Muttemwar (Congress) on safety measures taken by the ministry in the wake of several rail accidents.
“At this stage, I must thank the rail parivaar ~ right from the gangman to the boardman everyone is dedicated, ” Mr Trivedi said recalling that there were 2000 rail accidents in the 1960s, while this year there have been 93 accidents. Mr Trivedi’s remarks that Indian Railways was the best system in the world, given the constraints in the country drew sharp reactions from members.
In the Rajya Sabha, the minister was assertive, and said if one were to make comparisons between the safety record of the Indian railways and railways in other parts of the world, one would find that Indian railways was among the safest.
The minister said that the Indian Railways was run by a professional board which comprised people who had spent 35-40 years of their life “thinking, breathing and eating Railways”. He said he would give sanction for filling up the vacancies within a week. “From my office, the sanction will go this week, ” he said.
