RAILWAYS TO ANNOUNCE CORPORATE SAFETY
PLAN SOON
The Union Minister
of Railways, Shri Nitish Kumar has said that his Ministry would
unveil a comprehensive corporate safety plan for the next ten
years to provide a result oriented safety improvement on Indian
Railways. Inaugurating a two-day long National Workshop on Railway
Safety here today, Shri Nitish Kumar said the new Safety Plan
would be announced soon. He said that under the proposed comprehensive
corporate safety plan, all personnel from the apex at the Railway
Board level down the line to the Gangmen level would be made accountable
and the Government would deal with iron hands to improve safety
of rail services.
Talking of himself,
the Railway Minister said that he has been receiving public flak
from all corners and it was high time that everybody connected
with rail services would have to account for. Expressing his deep
anguish on lapses in safety, the Minister said that all efforts
made so far have not worked in the desired manner. He asked railwaymen
to improve quality of components and ensure that no compromise
was made in the quality of rolling stock and its procurement.
Describing Indian
Railways as the safest mode of bulk transport, the Railway Minister
said that its public credibility and image were at stake and all
of us must give our best to restore its efficacy and glory.
The Minister talked
at length on making public reports of Commissioner of Railway
Safety and said despite he having written two letters to his counterpart
in the Civil Aviation Ministry such reports continued to remain
confidential. He directed the Chairman, Railway Board to take
up the matter with that Ministry and resolve it at the earliest
failing which the Ministry of Railways would go ahead in publishing
such reports to make them public so that the charges of cover
up of truth did not stick against Railways and an ethos of transparency
and openness prevailed in the system.
Others who spoke
in the inaugural function were the heads of five Railway Federations,
Minister of State for Railways, Shri Bandaru Dattatraya and Chairman
Railway Board, Shri R.K. Singh. They spoke at length about introduction
of greater accountability, transparency, openeness, quality control,
change in work culture, stepped up surprise inspections, intensification
of inspection by supervisory officials and greater interaction
with frontline railwaymen connected with rail safety on the ground.
The two-day Workshop
is intended to provide a broad symptom of safety related problems
encountered by railwaymen at the grassroots level with the Railway
Minister himself interacting on one to one basis with all categories
of workforce to fortify a strong measure in the form of a comprehensive
safety plan.
