GMs to be held answerable for railway mishaps

Manoj Sinha, Minister of state for Railways, responding to Millennium Post’s report – “52 accidents in 5 months, Railways blame human error” appearing in the edition dated September 16, 2015, said that the figures were “alarming” and “safety was the top priority for Indian Railways.”

Asked on the claim made by Indian Railways that “40 <g data-gr-id="20">per cent</g> of the accidents were avoidable as they were caused by human error,” Sinha explained, “Human error could definitely be avoidable. Strict action has been taken against employees who have been found responsible for these mishaps. 

But from now on, in addition to the employees, the tops bosses including the General Managers of the 17 Zones will be answerable. This decision was made during the meeting which was held regarding safety in railway operations on Tuesday.”

The Minister said, “I do feel that in the last few years the numbers of railway accidents have come down. These accidents are a major area of concern for us and we have placed it as our top priority.” 

During the meeting held on Tuesday with the General Managers of 17 zones, Sinha said there were several issues which were discussed with the primary focus being on safety and also on punctuality, loading, earnings, and monitoring.

Millennium Post reported that in the last 5 months, 52 accidents took place between April 1 and September 13, 2015, of which maximum accidents took place due to derailments (27), followed by unmanned level crossings (UMLC) which caused 19 accidents, and 3 each caused by Manned Level Crossing (MLC) and for miscellaneous reasons. According to the Ministry of Railway, other factors responsible for such accidents were collision and fire, but derailment has topped the list since 2005.