The Odisha train crash is one of the most devastating railway accidents in Indian history. With nearly 288 people dead (officially) and over 800 injured including many with permanent disabilities, the Odisha accident is a wake-up call for the Central Government.
The Railway Ministry and by extension, the Central Government need to allocate enough resources and willpower to ensure railway safety standards are met.
Resignation of the Railway Minister: Is it the right move?
There have been calls for the Railway Minister's resignation. But that does not solve the problem. In order to understand the problem, it is critical to know what it is.
The problem is the system. When you have a severely understaffed system, problems are bound to multiply. Understaffed systems also result in problems being pushed under the shrug, which complicates and exacerbates them.
And that is precisely what seems to have happened in this case. There have been multiple complaints about safety issues and even a few specifics on that particular line. And yet, the railways have not done anything. I’m not blaming workers who are underpaid and definitely understaffed. When you are in a situation where the workload is beyond your capability, you have to prioritize work. You have to choose which tracks to cover and which to defer to later. That is what programmers do, too. So when something goes ignored for some time and is on a less popular route, that route faces problems. That seems to be the primary issue in the Odisha train crash as well.
The resignation of the railway minister does not impact the person’s career at all.
Resignations/dismissals are not permanent in politics like corporations. Politics is more about the minister's popularity among the masses. Politicians have become very adept at shifting blame to ministries and other bureaucrats. This is even if the final decision and quite often, the determining vote was their own.
We need to hold politicians accountable and keep them in office. We need to ensure systems are strong enough and allocated funds are used optimally. Hire people to fill the positions that are currently vacant. There are millions of unemployed youth in India. Why don't we hire for these posts when candidates are available?
In the past, railway minister step-downs have not impacted politicians' careers. We’ve seen ministers become Chief Ministers, Railway Ministers again, and even Prime Ministers. What does that say about our systems and where we can take them in the future if our punishment essentially rewards the people we hold accountable?
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