Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying law enforcement agencies including CBI cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures.
Congress reaction comes a day after Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the Railway Board had decided to seek a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Odisha train accident, in which 275 people were killed and over 1,000 injured.
바카라The CBI is meant to investigate crimes, not railway accidents. The CBI, or any other law enforcement agency, cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures. In addition, they lack the technical expertise in railway safety, signalling, and maintenance practices,바카라 Kharge said in his four-page letter, mentioned The Indian Express report.
He said it was unfortunate that 바카라the people in charge 바카라 your goodself and Railway Minister Ashwani Vaishnav 바카라 do not want to admit that there are problems바카라, the report said.
바카라The devastating train accident in Odisha has shocked the nation. Today, the most crucial step is to prioritise installation of mandatory safety standards to ensure safety of our passengers,바카라 he said, as per the report.
바카라The Railway Minister claims to have already found a root cause, but yet has requested the CBI to investigate,바카라 Kharge said, mentioned the report.
Kharge argued that in 2016 the then railways minister had asked the National Investigation Agency to investigate the derailment of a train in Kanpur in which 150 people were killed, it said.
바카라Subsequently, you yourself claimed in an election rally in 2017 that there was a conspiracy. The nation was assured that the strictest punishment would be meted out.
However, in 2018, the NIA closed the investigation and refused to file a chargesheet. The nation is still in the dark 바카라 who is responsible for 150 avoidable deaths?바카라 Kharge asked, the report said.
바카라The statements so far and the roping in of yet another agency without the required expertise remind us of 2016. They show that your government has no intent to address the systemic safety malaise, but is instead finding diversionary tactics to derail any attempts to fix accountability,바카라 he said, as per the report.
바카라All the empty safety claims of the Railway Minister have now been exposed. There is serious concern among the common passengers about this deterioration in safety. Therefore, it is incumbent upon the government to ascertain and bring to light the real reasons that caused this grave accident. Today, the most crucial step is to prioritise installation of mandatory safety standards and equipment across railway routes to ensure safety of our passengers and no recurrence of an accident like the one at Balasore,바카라 he said, the report said.
Kharge added, 바카라Instead of focusing on strengthening the railways at the basic level, only superficial touch-up is being done to stay in news.바카라
바카라Instead of making the railways more effective, more advanced, and more efficient, it is instead being meted out with step-motherly treatment. Meanwhile, consistently flawed decision-making has made travelling by rail unsafe and has in turn compounded the problems of our people,바카라 he said.
In his letter, Kharge posed 11 questions to Prime Minister Modi. He pointed out that about 3 lakh posts are lying vacant in Indian Railways.
바카라In fact, in the East Coast Railway 바카라 the site of this tragic accident 바카라 about 8,278 posts are vacant. It바카라s the same story of apathy and negligence even in the case of senior positions, where both the PMO and the Cabinet Committee play a crucial role in appointments. There were more than 18 lakh railway employees in the decade of the nineties, which have now been reduced to about 12 lakh, of which, 3.18 lakh are employed on contractual basis. Vacant posts pose a threat to the assured jobs of people who belong to SC / ST / OBC and EWS. It바카라s a pertinent question to ask 바카라 why have such high number of vacancies not been filled over the last 9 years?바카라 he asked, the report said.
바카라Loco pilots are crucial to safety and their overburden is proving to be the main cause of accidents. Why have their positions not been filled yet?바카라 he asked, the report said.
