The stampede toll at New Delhi Railway Station on Sunday was mounting by the hour. The Railways came up with a swift fire-fighting attempt. Playing with the sentiments of the victims the Railway by quickly authorities announced a financial aid of Rs 10 lakh to the bereaved families and Rs 2.5lakh to the ‘grievously’ injured. Instead, what the government should have done instantly was to announce the exit of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, under whose tenure worse catastrophes have occurred – the worst being the telescoping of trains in Odisha which killed nearly 300 persons. Vaishnav should have hung up his boots, bearing moral responsibility for what had happened long ago. Prime Minister Modi kept shuffling ministers for the Railways in the last 10 years, making a mess of this principal communications sector. A disaster happened again now, directly under Modi’s and Vaishnav’s nose in Delhi; and the opposition is justified in seeking the minister’s scalp.
It is no secret that the Modi establishment has done precious little to improve the sad plight of India’s ailing railways system. True, Modi concentrated mostly on the national highways and roads sector, where a huge commission raj prevailed and which allegedly oiled the BJP’s election machinery. The Government failed to move forward in significant ways to reorganize the railway system. What happened in Delhi on Sunday is symptomatic of the chaos that rules this sector. One of Modi’s reckless acts was the abandoning of a separate railway budget. The proposals were clumsily integrated with the general Budget, giving little room for the MPs to know what was in store. Modi allegedly wanted to tweak this sector’s development to benefit BJP-ruled states and had “much to hide”. He started with big promises of Bullet and other high-speed trains. The Ahmedabad-Mumbai bullet train project is dragging, half done, in the last 10 years though the project was originally conceived by the UPA-II of Manmohan Singh for its completion in five years.
Fact is, the railway sector remains in chaotic conditions, except for limited track length increase and introduction of some new trains. The speed of top-ranking trains remains around 130km per hour – set against the magnetic levitation trains of China that can run at speeds of nearly 500km per hour. Technology in the railway sector keeps changing hugely in the developing world, but not on Modi’s watch. Most trains here travel at average speeds of less than 70km per hour. Most old rakes have not been replaced and tracks not strengthened. While Modi claimed to stress on safety when he started in 2014, several major accidents took place in recent times. Catering services on most trains are in a hopeless state. Serving good food on a select few trains like Rajdhani had been there in the past too. Even name-boards of stations across platforms are mostly missing; and some are placed at foolish elevations. Fact is, the Railway system is being rubbished by successive governments.