Train disaster: guilty must get punishment

MR Nitish Kumar, the Union Railway Minister, has finally resigned though on mere moral grounds, but the fact remains if this is the end of justice. Will his resignation bring back to life those who have been killed in the recent train accident at Gaisal in West Bengal?

Justice in India, particularly in our railways, is a far-fetched expectation. A genuine and sincere review of the statistics of our train accidents in the last 52 years or so would reveal that the number of deaths and fatal injuries had been much more than those that had been during the last four wars which the nation had to fight since Independence.

Well, the reasons for the former were quite irrelevant and illogical. It is amazing that not a single person responsible for each of those accidents had been hanged so far. Why?

It is a sad thing that the ultimate outcome of the enquiries ordered into train accidents has been the same monotonous revelation — “mechanical-cum-human failure/error”. Mechanical failure every time shows complacency on the part of our railways, its engineers and its entire administration; while the element of human error relates to the neglect of a very high order amounting to anti-national slip-ups. Both defaults call for a very stern action against those responsible for such accidents.

However, if our railways are incapable of overcoming the causes of recurring train accidents, it would be much better to revert back to the bullock-cart age, because it is much sensible to reach back home safe and intact rather than not to return at all.

Therefore, it is imperative for the entire nation to demand severest punishment for those who had been the cause for over 500 deaths and 600 cases of injury in West Bengal a few days back.

BHARAT DASS SHARMA
Ambala Cantt

Utter callousness: Whether it was symbolic or otherwise, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar minced no words to admit that the accident at Gaisal reflected utter callousness on the part of the railway staff. Owning moral responsibility for the worst-ever railway mishap claiming 500 lives or more, he tendered his resignation from the Council of Ministers which must be appreciated even notwithstanding the fact that it holds little water. The intentions appear to be sincere and cannot be doubted at all.

But the way Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee refused to accept his resignation initially puts a big question mark on his clever handling of the situation in utter duplicity of approach. He seemed to kill two birds with one stone — one, by announcing that a commission will be appointed to go into the serious and complex aspect of safety on the railways and, two, by counselling the Railway Minister “not to act in a hurry” which ostensibly reflects his aim to keep, Mr Nitish Kumar in good humour on “populist” grounds.

R.L. PATHAK
New Delhi

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Curious development

The Tribune cartoon captioned ‘BJP fields Arun Nehru from Rae Bareli” (August 13), depicting Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Arun Nehru standing back to back virtually ready to embark on opposite electoral roads, evokes poignant feelings.

Apparently, the times seem out of joints. Else the curious development — a Gandhi and a Nehru contesting elections on different symbols — seems simply inexplicable.

Or, are the neo-Gandhi and Nehru just fake replicas of their peerless originals and hence the incredible development?

Anyway, the Mahatma and his darling disciple — inimitable Jawaharlal Nehru — must be grinning in their heavenly abode to see the strange turn things have taken in the land of their birth, especially the historic party they nursed and nourished so caressingly.

TARA CHAND
Ambota (Una)

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Electrocution cases on the rise

During the past few months the UT Electricity Department has collected a huge amount of money from the residents of the City Beautiful under the VDS scheme. It seems the department is busy with spinning money only, and doing nothing for power consumers.

In the past less than a week, electrocution in the city has claimed as many as four lives. Two children, while they were playing in front of their house in Ram Darbar, were electrocuted when one of them touched a live wire lying on the ground. The elder child who tried to rescue the younger one too was electrocuted. In other cases, a rickshaw-puller from Bihar and a woman in her seventies were electrocuted on August 11 and 12, respectively.

An area-wise survey to streamline the system should be initiated by the department without further delay to safeguard public life.

DINESH KUMAR SHARMA
Chandigarh

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Unending wait

The then Subordinate Services Selection Board (now Staff Selection Commission) Haryana, held the examination for the selection of clerks on January 28, 1996. The result of successful candidates was published in The Tribune dated March 18, 1996.

It was announced by the Chairman at the centres that the candidates securing 50 marks will be issued posting orders soon. Although more than three years have passed, the posting orders have not yet been issued. The Appointing Authorities are appointing clerks on an ad hoc basis without calling the lists from the Staff Selection Commission, which is injustice to the selected candidates.

Most of the selected candidates whose appointment is pending belong to the poor and unemployed families and they are anxiously waiting for their appointment. The Haryana Government should absorb the candidates who passed the examination with hard work in the face of so much competition.

K M MADAN
Panchkula

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Incentives on savings

The Punjab Government offers fabulous prizes to the investors who put in their money in small savings schemes of the State twice a year and the Haryana Government does likewise once a year.

The scheme not only motivates the people towards the habit of saving but also makes available money running into hundreds of crores to State kitty for development and welfare schemes of the states.

The U.T. Administration also collects a lot of money through such schemes but offer no incentives. What is the logic in not doing so? The Chandigarh Administration should also take steps to give some sort of incentives to the investors for attracting more customers towards small saving schemes.

T.R. GOYAL
Chandigarh