News Analysis India

Tag: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

  • Problem with locomotive’s equipment: Min after inspecting Bikaner-Guwahati train accident site

    By PTI

    JALPAIGURI/GUWAHATI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday inspected the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train accident site in West Bengal’s Jalpaiguri district and said that there was some issue with the equipment of the locomotive.

    Nine people were killed and 36 injured after 12 coaches of the Bikaner-Guwahati Express train derailed, and some of them capsized near Domohani in Jalpaiguri district on Thursday.

    Vaishnaw said that the actual reason behind the accident could be ascertained only after dismantling the engine’s equipment.

    He also met injured passengers at the hospital. “The issue was with the locomotive’s equipment, not with speed restrictions or tracks. There will be marks on the equipment. Only after dismantling it and studying those marks, the reason behind the accident can be ascertained,” he told reporters after inspecting the accident site.

    “The root cause (behind the accident) will soon come out. An inquiry into the unfortunate incident is underway. We pray for the departed souls and wish for a speedy recovery of the injured. Talks are on with the families regarding the distribution of ex-gratia,” he added.

    Earlier in the day, Vaishnaw arrived at Domohani railway station at 9.38 am and proceeded to the derailment site within two minutes on a motor trolley, NFR’s Chief Public Relations Officer Guneet Kaur said in Guwahati.

    “The minister conducted a trolley inspection to ascertain the condition of the track and fittings. At the accident site, he conducted a thorough inspection of the underframe of the locomotive and its braking system,” she said.

    She said that the death toll has risen to nine, with three of the deceased yet to be identified. The number of injured currently stands at 36.

    While 23 passengers are undergoing treatment at a super specialty hospital in Jalpaiguri, six are admitted to the North Bengal Medical College and seven at Maynaguri Rural Hospital, the CPRO said.

    The accident took place at 5 pm on Thursday near Domohani in Alipurduar division of the Northeast Frontier Railway, she said.

    “An inquiry committee has been formed to find out what caused the derailment,” Kaur told PTI.

    NFR General Manager Anshul Gupta reached the spot at 12.08 am on Friday, and is supervising the restoration work of tracks for normalisation of train movement. He visited various hospitals on Thursday night and early on Friday to check the condition of the injured patients, Kaur said.

    The CPRO said that a special train had left the accident site at 9.50 pm with 290 stranded passengers for Guwahati. The special train has reached Guwahati railway station around 8.30 am on Friday, Assam’s Special DGP (Law and Order) G P Singh said in a Twitter post.

    There were 1,053 passengers onboard the train at the time of the derailment, an NFR statement had said on Thursday.

    The Railways has announced ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the next of kin of those killed in the accident, Rs 1 lakh to the grievously injured, and Rs 25,000 for passengers with simple injury.

    “Now that the passenger relief operation at the site is complete, restoration work will start in full swing for normalisation of train movement under the supervision of the NFR general manager,” she said.

    At least 10 trains, mostly intercity and DEMU trains, have been cancelled on the affected route on Friday, while a couple are being short-terminated or short-originated.

    Another 10 long-distance trains are being diverted through alternative routes, the CPRO added.

  • Over 1,500 Group B rail officials fear seniority loss due to 4-yr delay in promotion 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: The careers of over 1,500 Group B Railways officers are in disarray due to over four-year delay in promotions, associations representing them have said and contended this has led to “humiliation” and is “demoralising”.

    Group B officers are considered the backbone of rail operations as they are involved in the repair-maintenance of rolling stock, fixing and monitoring of railway track, signal system and other operational aspects of the national transporter.

    Over the past few months, Railway associations have made multiple submissions to the Railway Board over the issue and have highlighted how the delay in promotions since 2016 had not only hampered the career progression of these officers but has also led to humiliation.

    “Some Group-B officers are working in junior scale for more than 14 years due to delay of DPCs (Departmental Promotion Committee) and due to abolished ad-hoc promotion in Senior Scale. Many Group-B Officers have retired/going to retire in the junior scale itself. 

    The stagnation due to the delay of DPC is causing humiliation and is demoralising. To get rid of this pathetic situation, the only solution is to conduct DPC on time,” wrote Indian Railways Promotee Officers’ Federation (IRPOF) to the Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma in October.

    It stated that the present state of affairs is a “great dampener of self-esteem and self-actualisation which are considered to be the most essential needs of any human being in his professional endeavour”.

    In a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the association blamed the “slackness/poor involvement” of Zonal Railways and production units in not providing data for DPCs in time according to the calendar provided by the Department of Personnel and Training for convening timely DPCs which, they alleged, has never been adhered to.

    “Instructions were given to make the panels for promotions available prior to the actual occurrence of vacancies. It has also been said in those circulars to fix the responsibility of the officials concerned for the delay in case of non-compliance of preparations of DPCs as per DOPT calendar,” the letter stated.

    BJP MP from Mumbai, Gopal Shetty, in a letter to Jitendra Singh, MoS, Ministry of Personnel and Training, had raised the issue of the “around 1500 Group B officers affected due to the delay in conducting DPCs”.

    Senior officials said the mood of these officers over the issue can have a direct impact on rail safety and train operations.

    The associations have also highlighted that while promotions were granted to the Group B Indian Railway Personnel Service last year, the same was delayed for four years for seven other departments, including mechanical engineering, traffic, civil engineering, Signal and Telecom Engineer and electrical engineering.

    “DPC of IRPS (Indian Railway Personnel Service) was convened in June 2021 and that minutes were advised to the Board by UPSC. DPC for IRTS (Indian Railway Traffic Service) for 2018 and 2019 was done in July 2021, but DPC notification was not advised to the Board. It is relevant to point out that DPC for IRSME (Indian Railway Service for Mechanical Engineering) for 2016-17 which was scheduled for July 2021 was postponed for 29.7.2021 but subsequently postponed,” the letter stated.

    It sid, that while the papers of IRPS and IRTS for 2018-2019 were submitted at the same time, the reasons for not notifying the Traffic DPC is not understood or justified.

    The Railway Board has now called for a meeting with representatives of the IRPOF on November 25.