If you commit a crime, you must be punished. Railway workers cannot escape liability for negligence or dereliction of duty. Indian Railways has decided to be stricter in this regard. Accidents or loss of life due to negligence of workers will be punished. Railways will look into the accident investigation report to see if any employee was at fault.
In a letter dated December 5, the Railway Board has sent instructions in this regard to its zonal offices. It said that the concerned zonal office should take ‘disciplinary action’ against such employees.
The railway board has written to all general managers, including heads of Konkan Railway Corporation and Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation (DFCC). It clearly states that negligence of duty by railway officials has come to light in some recent accidents. As a result, in such a situation, these staff-officials cannot be identified only. Appropriate action should be taken against the officer responsible for dereliction of duty. Read more: Six at the beginning of campusing! IIT Kanpur student got Rs 4 crore package
Written in letters, various accidents are seen, sometimes due to negligence on the part of officials
(i) Lack of proper surveillance of railway property/works
(ii) Negligence in supervision in operation of train
(iii) Lack of safety at work site
(iv) Failure to follow proper rules in operation of trains
(v) Making defective designs
(vi) Defects in working methods
(vii) Complete system failure
etc. happened.
A senior railway official, who did not want to be named in this regard, said that the railway workers should be responsible for their work. He should be held accountable if he makes a mistake. Indian Railways now aims to ensure this.
Indian Railways is getting stricter day by day. Since Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav came to the post last year, there has been further tightening. Railways are sending regular employees to retrenchment or forced retirement due to failure in performance of duty, corruption etc. As a result, there is no question of thinking ‘Government job… I come, I get mine’ in any department of the railways. Read this report and you will understand exactly how much strictness is being done(click): 139 railway workers have lost their jobs in the last 16 months due to negligence and taking bribes
The new guidelines of the Railways also state that action should be taken in case of loss of human life due to train accidents and/or any significant disruption of communication lines for more than 24 hours or if the General Manager feels that there is negligence on the part of the officer(s). In such circumstances the concerned officer(s) of the Zonal Railway and/or the concerned PSU shall draw up an accident investigation report. If anyone is guilty of that, it must be clearly stated. On the recommendation of the General Manager, Chief Safety Officer, disciplinary action may be taken against such officer(s) while receiving the accident investigation report.