Should railways ministers resign after train accidents? A look at past records
Should railways ministers resign after train accidents? A look at past records
The Odisha train accident, which has claimed more than 270 lives, has set off a political slugfest. Even as the Ministry of Railways has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into Friday’s mishap, described as one of the worst in India, there have been demands from the Opposition that Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should resign.
But will a resignation help? Should railway ministers step down over train tragedies? We take a look at the records.
It is unfortunate but rail accidents, especially derailments, are not so rare. According to the National Crime Records Bureau, 17,993 railway accidents were reported in 2021. Train collisions killed 86 and derailments 22.
Records show that roughly 2.6 lakh people have lost their lives in train accidents in the past 10 years and a majority of this is not because of collisions but because people fell off trains or were run over by them. That said, rail safety remains a major concern in the country.
Big rail accidents with a high death toll and injuries have occurred during the tenure of other railway ministers as well.
When Nitish reisgned as rail minister
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar served as the minister of railways for two terms in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee led-government. During his time, 1079 accidents were recorded – collisions and derailments – which led to 1,527 deaths, according to the railways ministry data.
There were 1,000 incidents of derailments and 79 collisions when Kumar was in charge of railways. The Janata Dal (United) chief quit after the Gaisal train disaster on 2 August 1999, when two trains carrying about 2,500 people collided at the remote station in West Bengal, claiming at least 285 lives. But Kumar’s resignation citing “moral responsibility” is rare.
Mamata Banerjee’s tenure in railways
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, who is now slamming the Centre for the Odisha tragedy, does not have a clean track record either as railways minister. She served under Vajpayee and Manmohan Singh and during her tenure, the country witnessed 839 derailments and 54 collisions, leading to 1451 deaths, according to ministry data.
After two train disasters in 2000, Banerjee resigned from the post but Vajpayee rejected her resignation.
Now Banerjee has raised concerns about the failure of the anti-collision system and has highlighted the need for a thorough investigation, saying the crash could have been averted if the trains were equipped with the system.
The Bengal CM has said that 182 people from the state are still missing. “It is not that everyone (dead body) has been identified so far. We received confirmation on 62 deaths from our state. There are also 182 more from Bengal, who are still missing or not identified (among the deceased)… The number (of deaths) may rise,” she told the media on Sunday.
Banerjee had also questioned the official death toll on Saturday in the presence of Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, saying the number had mounted to 500. However, he contested the claim.
Lalu as rail minister
In the Manmohan Singh-led government, Lalu Prasad Yadav was the railways minister from May 2004 to May 2009. During his tenure, 601 accidents were recorded – 550 derailments and 51 collisions. The number of deaths in these mishaps stood at 1159.
Now the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief has hit out at the Centre after the Odisha tragedy, saying that this government has “destroyed” the railways, demanding high-level inquiry to find out the cause of the Odisha train accident.
Alleging negligence and taking a dig at the BJP without naming it, Yadav said, “The manner in which they showed negligence and didn’t show alertness led to such a large number of casualties.”
“There should be a high-level inquiry and action should be taken against those responsible for it…There was major negligence. They have destroyed Railways,” he added.
The first railways minister to resign
While there is a growing demand for Vaishnaw’s resignation, only two ministers have resigned so far after train tragedies. Nitish Kumar’s resignation in 1999 was the second and came 43 years after the first.
In November 1956, Lal Bahadur Shastri stepped down from his post as railways minister on moral grounds after the Ariyalur train accident in Tamil Nadu, which led to 142 deaths.
Jawaharlal Nehru hailed Shastri as a man of integrity. He went on to become the country’s second prime minister.
Railways under PM Modi
Rail accidents have come down in the last decade, according to official data. From 2012-13 to 2022-23, during the terms of nine ministers under the United Progressive Alliance and the National Democratic Alliance, the Indian Railways recorded 878 mishaps, including collisions, derailment, and fires among others.
The number is close accidents seen during Banerjee’s two terms as railways minister. In the decade before from 2002-03 to 2011-12, the railways recorded a total of 2,147 mishaps, reports News18.
In August 2017, Suresh Prabhu offered his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taking moral responsibility for two derailments in four days – the Kaifiyat Express derailment near Auriaya, which injured over 70 persons, and the Kalinga Utkal Express derailment at Khatauli near Muzaffarnagar, which killed 22 people and injured over 150 others. However, the PM “asked him to wait”.
Now Vaishnaw faces his biggest test yet as railways minister. He has been camping in Balasore, close to the site of the crash, and has been overseeing rescue and relief operations, steering clear of any political confrontations.
The railways minister turned emotional as he spoke about reuniting survivors with their family members. “Our goal is to make sure missing persons’ family members can find them as soon as possible… our responsibility is not over yet,” Vaishnaw said as he announced the restoration of train services in the affected section.
After repairs of damaged tracks, train services resumed on Sunday night, 51 hours after the triple train accident.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave his advice and instructions on the restoration of the railway tracks. The whole team (involved in the restoration work) laboured diligently and systematically to fix the damaged rails for the resumption of services,” Vaishnaw said.
“In the past, we saw that railway ministers’ actions were only limited to photo ops during accidents. People like Mamata Banerjee even played politics then. But Vaishnaw is on the spot for more than 30 hours and is tirelessly involved in rescue and other relief efforts,” a senior government official told News18.
According to government sources, all agencies are working together as part of PM Modi’s direction of “whole of government approach”. The railways ministry is working in coordination with the National Disaster Response Force and the health ministry. Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is also on the ground to ensure that there are no lapses in meting out medical treatment and to minimise losses.
With inputs from agencies
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