Amidst increasing train accidents, the opposition called the Railway Minister – Reel Minister, 4 deaths in Jharkhand
#News Bureau July 30,2024
Railway officials said the incident occurred after a freight train derailed and collided with the Howrah-Mumbai Mail passing in front. All the injured passengers were admitted to Tata Hospital in Jamshedpur. Earlier on July 18, at least four people were killed and about 20 people were injured when several bogies of the Dibrugarh Express derailed in Gonda, Uttar Pradesh.
Leaders of opposition parties raised the cases of train accidents inside and outside Parliament. They even called Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav a reel minister. RJD Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Kumar Jha said, “We will wait to see how many more train accidents happen? They (the central government) don’t care. Where is the ‘kavach’? How many kilometres have been covered.. Was there no mention of it in the budget this time?” Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay said railway safety has become a challenge in the country and questioned why Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav was not present in the House to inform the members about the situation.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav attacked the government’s track record on rail safety, saying, “This government wants to create a record in train accidents. They have a record number of paper leaks and now railway accidents. This government only makes tall claims. People are losing their lives. The government should do something about this so that such accidents do not happen in future.”
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi attacked Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, calling him a “reel minister”. Criticising overcrowding in trains, the MP said, “People are travelling in toilets but the government is not ashamed.” Chaturvedi said, “There have been many deaths and with no accountability till date, I think this incident will also have no impact. Will announce compensation, promise an inquiry and then move on to the next PR Instagram reel.”
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed condolences to the victim families and asked the government to fix accountability after a string of rail accidents and take measures to prevent such incidents. “I seriously ask: is this governance? Almost every week we see this endless cycle of deaths and injuries on railway tracks like a nightmare. How long will we tolerate this? Will there be no end to this? How long will the insensitivity of the Indian government continue?” Banerjee, a former railway minister, tweeted.
The Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) also criticised the Centre and urged the Railway Minister to focus on the railways instead of making reels on social media.
