Too many train mishaps…

There are too many train accidents in recent times for comfort. It is quite serious these accidents, lot of people are getting killed. Many who are injured are also maimed for life. There is so much metal inside the boggie that even a small jerk and fall can break some bones. But must say in recent times the designs are getting more modern and care is taken to reduce the contact with metal. Maybe they could use more of fiber that are strong but not lethal in case of accident. The situation in unreserved compartments does remain quite bad. One need to however keep in mind that Indian Railways provides one of the cheapest travel anywhere in the world.

They could adopt new technology to stop accidents, accidents like trains colliding onto each other should never happen in this age we live in. There are enough equipments to avoid these like for instance the jammers and so on. There has been widespread criticism of Union Railway minister Mamata Bannerjee (the firebrand politician from Bengal). Well how much of these decisions are decided by political executives is debatable. These are I believe done by the experts and Minister’s role is sanctioning and allocating. Having said Ms. Bannerjee cannot really exonerate herself from these mishaps, she is part of the collective failure. There are serious allegation of poor maintenance in Railways.

This blogger though don’t take the argument that she shouldn’t be interested in politics of Bengal. A politician once a Union Minister doesn’t seize to be a politician. As much as the Chief Minister of Bengal remains the member of CPM and attends political rallies. I am not even coming to the Agriculture Minister, isn’t this holding two post that is detrimental to the nation. Isn’t there a law against these?. Writes Mr. Sainath in indiatogether.org “Maybe it's time for the Prime Minister to extend inclusive growth to bring the Food and Agriculture Minister into food and agriculture. (Or we could include cricket in that sector.) Four Ministers in the same field would be truly inclusive.”

A minister is also a politician but it shouldn’t interfere with his/her responsibility as a Minister. If TMC wins the assembly elections (which is quite likely) she can take the call of becoming Chief Minster of Bengal, nobody should have any trouble with that. This is how democracy functions, nothing unique. It also need be pointed out that many of the former Railway ministers who are now criticizing were quite partisan (in some case blatant) in allocating national resources.

Further this blogger strongly believes that it is not necessary for Ministers, MPs and so on to be settled in Delhi for their term. They could locate themselves wherever they find it convenient; arrangement should be made for videoconference or other latest technological innovations. Why should Mr. Azhagiri or for that any elected leader need to be in Delhi, where they are not comfortable (and so means not able to contribute to their best). He or she could get the office e-transferred. India is not really Delhi. Many small timers with expertise in sycophancy have climbed into significant national positions just by being in Delhi. We have an example of a clerk becoming a powerful Union Minister without even going out of Delhi!!. This blogger doesn’t think these people have any unique qualities or expertise (indeed most are quite mediocre), it’s about how close you are to certain people. No wonder polices tend to be lopsided. This blogger strongly feels that Ms Bannerjee could locate herself to Kolkata as Union Railway Minister. She is not doing a particularly bad job. Though one feels these politicians not to speak too much into media, and give the impression that they are in control, people are not fools. It’s better to keep shut.

PS. Talking of trains, they have created walls along the railway track in cities, too many were getting killed while taking short cuts. Maybe they could also do something to prevent leaks from the railway track bridges that criss-cross cities, every day we two-wheeler riders have to wait for the train to pass to avoid being sprayed with muck water.

After the monsoons this blogger is thinking of making a trip to Meghalaya and maybe to Tripura (most likely in the mid October), these train accidents do make me uncomfortable.