Derailed Sarkaar: Unaccountability At Its Peak!
Derailed Sarkaar: Unaccountability At Its Peak!
Derailed Sarkaar: Unaccountability At Its Peak!
Posted on 2nd August, 2024 (GMT 20:05 hrs)
In its fragile and unstable third term, the sarkaar of Saffron Fascists continues to ignore the tragedies of the people. The sheer lack of accountability and care have reached newer heights of apathetic disavowal. This is not unexpected from them.
We had earlier composed an article on this issue:
In the above, we talked about some of the mass-scale disastrous happenings that took place during Modi 2.0 due to the latter’s neglect.
After the Lok Sabha Election Results, we have seen plenty of such similar tragedies as the above, including infrastructural failures, multiple bridge collapses and innumerable rail “accidents” (?).
In the above post, we had stated:
- The railway tracks have not been changed since long, no infrastructural development in Railways could be observed in the past decades. These age-old tracks cannot always bear the burden of the trains.
- There are many job-positions in the railways that are still left vacant. Railways/Government of India is not hiring anyone for these job-roles. Due to this, there is no coordination occurring between the various railway personnel who can indicate impending disaster at the correct time, thus avoid it.
- The Government said that it has established certain “suraksa kavach” (anti-collision system for trains) ⤡ to maintain security and safety of all in the railway journeys. Why did not such kavach work in this case? Is it just a make-believe simulation like Regan’s “Iron Dome or Star Wars Initiative” ⤡⤡? (Cf. India’s Mission Shakti in 2019 imitated or aped Regan’s format in terms of a simulated assertion of violent power. Did the Gulf War really occur? Was it “real”? Deaths were real! ⤡)
We must recall the two instances of moral responsibility in this context:
- In 1963, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then railway minister, who resigned from office following a major train accident of the Udyan Abha Toofan Express, which killed 100+ passengers;
- Mr. Nitish Kumar resigned as Railway Minister when a train accident had occurred in West Bengal’s Gaisal in 1999 under the regime of Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Dear Mr. Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon. Railway Minister, cannot you learn something from such instances? We are ashamed!
The present post attempts to talk about certain statistics associated with the issue of train “accidents”.
More than a year ago, in July 2023, the following was reported:
13 cases of signalling failure in 5 yrs, no incident due to defects in interlocking signal system: Rail Minister VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 21st July, 2023 ©The Economic Times)
As usual, the Rail Ministry denied the onus that directly falls on it.
However,
India’s train derailments surge: 19 incidents in 7 months amid declining track renewal spending VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 1st August, 2024 ©Hindu Businessline)
The above report noted that:
“While this has raised doubts about the condition of existing tracks and carriages, businessline analysis shows that despite rising railway revenue, the share of spending on track renewals has declined. Even as a percentage of total capital expense, the share for renewing existing tracks is trending down.”
“Railway revenue in 2022-23 was ₹1.2 lakh crore, and the track renewal expenses in that year were 13.5 per cent of the revenue. In FY24(RE), total railway revenue rose to ₹1.5 lakh crore, but spending on track renewal dipped to 11 per cent of revenue. As per last week’s Budget, the railway revenue is budgeted at Rs 1.8 lakh crore in FY25 (BE), and the track renewal spends are pegged at 9.7 per cent of this revenue.”
Moreover, it was seen:
“There were 27 derailments in 2021-22, which increased to 36 cases in 2022-23. Collision cases are the second most common, with 2 in 2021-22 and 6 in 2022-23. The railway ministry also informed the Upper House that technologies such as the Plasser Quick Relaying System and others have been deployed to address derailment.”
| YEAR | DERAILMENT CASES | COLLISION CASES |
| 2021-22 | 27 | 2 |
| 2022-23 | 36 | 6 |
Yet, in his latest speech, Rail Minister Ashwini “Vaishnaw” said that the Opposition is simply “politicizing” the issue of derailment incidents and denied all charges against the steps taken by the present government:
Ashwini Vaishnaw gets angry at Opposition’s ‘reel minister’ jibe: We work hard VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 1st August, 2024 ©India Today)
Let us go through some data about the pan-Indian railway tracks at this point:
1. Route length: 67,956 kms
2. Running Track length: 99,235 kms
3. Total Trackage: 1,26,366 kms
SOURCE: Indian Railways DATA VIEW HERE ⤡
What is needed to effectively resist these kinds of rampant derailment disasters is to revamp/renew the railway tracks, repair the dysfunctioning signaling systems and so on. How much expenditure is needed for doing all that?
In a 2023 report, it was said:
“In FY22, FY23 and FY24 ₹37,150 crore, ₹42 ,492 crore and ₹30,749 crore were provided for doubling, a large chunk of which qualified as construction of new lines. At current costs, laying a 1 km of track will cost around ₹15 crore.”
The report also stated:
“The Indian Railways will invest at least ₹7 trillion over the next decade to lay a record 50,000 kilometres (km) of new train tracks to modernize its network and boost train speeds, a top railway ministry official said.”
SOURCE: Budget 2024: Railways to invest ₹7 tn to lay tracks over the next decade VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 24th December, 2023 ©Mint)
Paradoxically enough, the present government, though, suffering from social myopia, are planning supposedly for the next 23 years to “celebrate” the so-called “azadi ka amrit mahotsav”. They have abandoned the five year planning and installed a new “futuristic” Niti Aayog. In this way by setting targets far beyond the present, they aim to escape the mortality of Yayatis⤡ . On the other hand, the successor of father-figures, viz., Kuru, the son of Yayati, is living within the world of “no future”. This type of “escape” is also found in the cases of the perpetrators of Bhopal Gas Tragedy (most notably, Union Carbide CEO late Warren M Anderson), the agents of the 1984 Delhi anti-Sikh Pogrom (late H. K. L. Bhagat, Amitabh Bachchan et al.), the accused of Purulia Arms Drop case in 1995 (“Kim Davy”), the accused of the 2002 Gujarat Pogrom (Modi, Amit Shah et al.), the scot-free superrich wilful defaulters (Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, Nirav Modi et al.), the causal state-actors of the Delhi Pogrom (2020) etc. Dear Readers, kindly note that most of the accused aged persons in these cases had died before trial or fled away from the spaces of their crime-scenes.
Moreover, the amount of tax-payer’s money that is being invested for nothing in return will be borne by the progenies after progenies in the insurmountable burden of external debt.
The external debt now stands at (as retrieved on 02/08/2024, GMT 19:30–19:31 hrs):
SOURCE: Live India Debt Clock VIEW HERE ⤡
Now, let us return to what we were talking about.
Going contrary to the need of the hour regarding rudimentary railway infrastructures, the present government is fully up for the promotion and implementation its “Bullet Train project“. How much does this project spend?
“The initial cost estimation for the project was ₹1.08 lakh crore for constructing 508 kms with 12 stops, cost was later revised to ₹1.65 lakh crore but it is expected to cost ₹two lakh crore when completed, which is ₹398 crore per km,” the tweet analyses.”
Simply compare! The projected costs for laying a 1 km of track is around ₹15 crore, while the Bullet Train project requires ₹398 crore per km,
Also note:
“The project is supposed to be funded 80:20 by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) which is a loan with a tenure of 50 years and an interest of 0.1%. This means that ₹1,60,000 crore will come from Japan at 0.1% for 50 years, and so the total interest will be around ₹4,040 crore over 50 years. For repayment purposes, an EMI has to be paid ₹273.4 crore every month, which brings up the cost to ₹3,280 crore every year for 50 years.”
Delayed deadlines, inflated costs of the bullet train makes it a costly liability, alleges Opposition VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 21st May, 2024 ©The Hindu)
Instead of spending this much of money towards the feigned Bullet Train initiative that violently destroys multiple ecosystems by causing ecocide, the government could have simply emphasized on replacing the existing tracks and signaling systems to stop these massive tragedies from taking place.
Instead of that, the government is busy developing “3D selfie booths with Modi imageries”:
“The Centre is spending up to ₹6.25 lakh on every permanent 3D selfie booth with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image in railway stations, according to a reply obtained from Central Railway on a Right to Information (RTI) application. The cost incurred on each temporary selfie booth is ₹1.25 lakh.”
Railways spending big on PM’s selfie booths: RTI reply; brazen waste of money, says Opposition VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 27th December, 2023 ©The Hindu)
Is not this government ashamed of anything? No, it does not have such a vocabule related to the lexeme “shame” in its thesaurus of Orwellian doublespeak. Benedict Anderson rightly pointed out that one of the characteristics of “hyper-nationalism” is “being ashamed” (1984):
In the case of Durkheim’s notion of claustrophobic “inorganic solidarity”, “shame” is one of the characteristic features.
Instead of any such “shame”, the present regime keeps on providing empty lip-service to “modernize” (the so-called “beautification” as part of a crafted, simulated appeal: the space of hyperreal, where one can obliviate the chilled penury of wounded India⤡) the pan-Indian railway stations:
““Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday (August 6) virtually laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across India as part of the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, estimated to cost $3 billion (Rs 24,470 crore). The project is being pegged as one of the biggest infrastructure push by the government in recent years.”
India: PM Modi launches $3 billion revamp of 508 railway stations across country VIEW HERE ⤡ (As reported on 6th August, 2023 ©WION)
On the other hand, the frequency of catastrophes is increasing day by day. Human lives are being mercilessly endangered. There is a null sense of responsibility that this government commands.
In this way. the “elected” (?) representatives of the ruling party are throwing the common tax-payer into the risky zones of life world. This zone is cordoned by the panopticon with its “novel” rules and regulations⤡⤡. We have never heard that the incumbent Prime Minister, along with the Home Minister, advice the citizens of India to buy stocks from the perilous and chaosophical share market⤡ (cf. Indian Stock Market Scam 2024 and the Futility of the Exit-Polls⤡). This was done in an effort to discourage citizens from living an otherwise secured life with FD-investments, and rather encourage them to become risk-takers in mutual funds, irrespective of the costs involved in the same. Even they have proved that FDs and Bonds are “unsecured”, given the rising rate of bankruptcies, e.g., the DHFL scam⤡ ⤡. This Hindutvavadi Government must learn something from their “other”⤡.
Thus, dear readers, can you tell me even one single positive achievement of this government in all of its terms in the last decade? If you know that, please let us know.
Keeping in mind the facts of the climate crisis, we cannot help but cite Gandhi regarding the “railways”, which was used as a metaphor for the so-called “progress”:
“It must be manifest to you that, but for the railways, the English could not have such a hold on India as they have. The railways, too, have spread the bubonic plague. Without them, the masses could not move from place to place. They are the carriers of plague germs. Formerly we had natural segregation. Railways have also increased the frequency of famines because, owing to facility of means of locomotion, people sell out their grain and it is sent to the dearest markets. People become careless and so the pressure of famine increases. Railways accentuate the evil nature of man: Bad men fulfil their evil designs with greater rapidity. The holy places of India have become unholy. Formerly, people went to these places with very great difficulty. Generally, therefore, only the real devotees visited such places. Nowadays rogues visit them in order to practise their roguery.”
“… it is submitted that our leading men travelled throughout India either on foot or in bullock-carts.” (Gandhi, Hind Swaraj, 1915⤡)
At the time of anthropogenic glocal heating and globalization of bio-chemical “epidemic” warfare, we must note the pilgrim’s progress or un-“development”.
[NOTE: In this text, we have used “rail” as a metaphor, or “displacement” of the present Indian government. On the other hand, the Indian common citizens are being transformed through a metonymic condensation, where their life-value is being rendered insignificant and becoming “just another” statistics. This kind of quantified dehumanization is becoming more and more characteristic of the present oligarchical regime. Therefore, we did not cite the official death-numbers due to the recurrent derailments.]
A camera-obsessed person is inaugurating a speedy train “Vande Bharat” without first changing the tracks!
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