Rahul Gandhi's Photo-Op With Loco Pilots Exposes Indian Railways' Vulnerability To Accidents Under Modi Government

While Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw may brush aside concerns raised by railway employees and rule out strained staff claims, the situation on the ground remains grim.

Indian Railways has around 12 lakh employees and on average, it runs more than 8,000 trains carrying 2.4 crore daily passengers. The recent train accident involving the Kanchanjunga Express and a goods train is an apt example of how strained staff may lead to mishaps. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi's photo-op with Indian Railways loco-pilots has exposed a less-talked-about vulnerability that the public transporter faces daily. Reports indicated that the loco-pilot of the goods train shot the signal as he was overworked and did not get proper sleep. 

While Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw may brush aside these issues and rule out strained staff claims, the situation on the ground remains grim. Lakhs of positions in the Railways are vacant and the recruitment process is not kicking in at the required speed. Conversations with loco pilots and station masters posted with different railway zones revealed that they are not getting periodic rest and week offs on time due to a shortage of staff. 

What is concerning is that the Indian Railways is not accepting these claims and exposing its front-line staff of Loco Pilots to a greater risk, thus making the passengers vulnerable to accidents. Whenever a train accident takes place, it costs not only the exchequer but also leads to the loss of public lives. In its dream of making the Indian Railways world-class, the Narendra Modi government has missed the elephant in the room. The government appears to be ignoring the critical issues of staff shortage while it continues to modernise railway stations and its train fleet.

Loco pilots claim that they are being forced to do 4 consecutive night shifts while as per the rule, there shouldn't be more than two in one go. They also claimed that due to staff shortage, they remain on outstation duty for 3-4 days while as per rules, one should return after 48 hours of outstation duty. 

Recently, videos of overcrowded 3rd AC and Sleeper coaches went viral with passengers claiming lack of service. Railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw even asked the Zonal railways to use the services of RPF and GRP to expel the waitlisted passengers from the AC coaches. However, the root cause of the overcrowded trains is the lack of extra trains on high-demand routes as well as the replacement of Sleeper coaches with AC coaches.  

Indian Railways is also a victim of red tapism with many babus drawing high salaries working for their own benefits instead of collective responsibility to take the railways and the nation forward. The credit was is so intense in railways that many projects often get delayed or even scrapped, said a senior railway official on the condition of anonymity. 

The challenge before Ashwini Vaishnaw is not just to fill the vacancies but also to unite the workforce behind a cause - of making the Indian Railways a world-class transport option. He should also accept the shortcomings instead of blame game and work to weed them out.