Tide of rail accidents swallowed general managers, not politics: authorities

Plain inefficiency, as reflected in poor safety records, and not administrative politics, is what earned railway officials S Ramanathan and Sinha their transfers, authorities claimed on Monday.

Ramanathan and Sinha are general managers in the south eastern and central railways respectively, whose proposed transfers had kicked up quite a fuss, with colleagues, under the Federation of Railway Officers' Association banner, appearing in black badges and threatening to go on leave on Tuesday.

The railway authorities' clarification was a last-minute attempt to stop this 'mass-leave' programme.

The transfers follow the major railway accident near Bilaspur in Madhya Pradesh on September 14, which saw over 120 deaths. "The administration felt that top officials should be made accountable for their performance on the safety front," officials said.

Highly placed Railway Board sources said while Ramanathan is being transferred to south western railway as general manager, Sinha would be posted as chief executive to Lucknow. The transfer orders are currently being processed by the Cabinet secretary and is expected to be issued in a few days.

Sources said the administration has been forced to issue the transfer orders in view of the poor performance of south eastern and central railways on the safety front. The number of accidents in both the railway zones have increased during the last two years.

South eastern railway saw 32 accidents -- including 10 involving passenger trains -- in the last five months, as compared to the 30 during the corresponding period last year.

In the central zone, the number of accidents during the same period had shot up to 34 from the 19 of 1996.

UNI

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