Railways Minister Vaishnaw Defends Railways Amid Political Heat, Urges Against Blame Game Over Recent Accidents

New Delhi: Facing political heat over railway accidents, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday said the national transporter should not be a subject of political blame game as it is the lifeline of the nation. Vaishnaw said some disturbing trends have emerged in some incidents and the railways was carrying out a detailed inquiry in each and every incident.

He was responding to questions on incidents of derailment of trains due to placing of boulders and rods on the railway tracks. "There are some disturbing trends in some incidents, which should be taken seriously," Vaishnaw said.

"Railways and defence are organizations which should be above politics. I don’t believe that railways should be a subject of political blame game," the minister said in an interaction with reporters after the cabinet meeting.

Vaishnaw said the railways was the lifeline of the country and if anything negative happens, every effort should be made to ensure that trains run in a very efficient manner.

Responding to a separate question, the minister said the railways have added 5,300 km of railway lines to the existing network during the last one year.

"Ten years ago, the average construction pace in Railways was four km per day. Today, it is 14.5 km per day," Vaishnaw said, adding all the sanctioned railway projects will be completed in the next five years.

On recruitment in the railways, the minister said the government has prepared a recruitment calendar for filling up vacancies in the national transporter.

"Four quarters have been linked to a particular category of employment. The first quarter – January to March – has been earmarked for recruiting loco pilots, the second quarter to hire technicians and junior engineers, the third quarter has been reserved for recruitment of non-technical staff and the fourth quarter for Level-1 officers," he said.

Vaishnaw said the annual plan of employment has been prepared and 45,000 vacancies have been advertised for the current recruitment cycle.

The minister said 1.54 lakh persons were given employment in the railways in the last recruitment cycle.