Aam Aadmi Party MLA Sanjeev Jha on Monday alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre is only focusing on its publicity instead of strengthening the railways system.
Referring to the recent Odisha train tragedy in which at least 292 people died, Jha, at a press conference, said, "If the Prime Minister can't run the railways, how will he run the country?"
"If the government had learnt from its past accidents, the tragedy could have been avoided," he said, adding that 35 train accidents took place in the 2021-22 and 48 between 2022-23.
"The Prime Minister and the Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, claimed to have been developing "Kavach" or automatic train protection system (ATP) with the help of latest technology and a team of competent engineers, but the rail accidents haven't been controlled," he said.
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"How the rail budget has been cut down over the years, but the money sanctioned to the Ministry of Railways and the money spent on the development of the railway systems aren't proportionate," Jha alleged.
He shared that the railways' expenditure in the financial year of 2021-22 was Rs 133 crore which increased to Rs 273 crore in the next financial year. Sandeep Pathak, AAP MLA from Punjab, a former professor at IIT and a Railway Board member, had advised that the government should focus on the anti-derailment and anti-collision systems to prevent accidents and increase the security.
According to the experts, 70 per cent of the train accidents take place due to mishandling of the railway tracks. He said, "The manpower appointed by the railways for track maintenance has been slacking by 50 per cent in 2021."
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Jha also added how the conditions of the 3rd AC compartments have been deteriorating. The lack of maintenance of the hygiene in the coaches and washrooms have caused a menace for the people travelling by trains, he said.
He claimed that the railways has 3,11,438 posts vacant, going by the minister's own admission, but no recruitment drive has been conducted so far. "In the years 2022-23 a total 2,74,587 trains were delayed and due to this a loss of 44,620 hours have been incurred," Jha claimed.
He called for the attention of the Centre towards the real issues faced by the citizens of the country instead of "focusing on publicity". When the MLA was asked to comment on the increase in crime rate in Delhi recently, he urged the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi to take accountability for such incidents happening in the capital.
