After blaming law and order agencies for failing to prevent 'sabotage', leading to rail accidents, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar seems to have found a new scapegoat -- his own staff.
On Friday, Kumar told Rajya Sabha that railway staff was responsible for most of the accidents.
Exclusive! Nitish Kumar speaks out
Drop in rail mishaps: Nitish Kumar
Most of the accidents, he said, occurred due to derailments and at unmanned railway crossings.
As per provisional figures, 423 persons were killed and 894 injured in 351 mishaps in 2002-03, he told the House.
He added that 216 persons were killed and 488 injured in 473 mishaps in 2000-01, while in the following year 267 persons were killed and 778 others hurt in 414 accidents.
Asked by many members about the action taken by his ministry against errant staff, Kumar said they would be dismissed, if found guilty in course of a statutory inquiry.
He said action had been taken against 2,586 officials in the last five years.
Opposition members were, however, dissatisfied with the Kumar's reply and created noisy scenes while expressing their concern over the spate of train accidents.