BJP MPs Slam Kharge For His Letter On Railways

A group of four Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MPs from Karnataka, have written a letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, criticising him for his recent letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Indian Railways.

They argued that Kharge's letter is "high on rhetoric and low on facts".

BJP MPs Sadananda Gowda, Tejaswi Surya, PC Mohan and S Muniswamy wrote the letter to Kharge.

Detailing mismanagement of the Railways in the wake of Odisha train tragedy, Kharge wrote a letter to PM where he highlighted 10 points that urged the government to bring out the 'real reason' behind the Balasore triple-train accident that claimed 288 lives.

As a former Minister of Railways, one would anticipate your discernment of the situation to be infused with depth and understanding, as you were at the helm between 2004 and 2014. Yet, your recent communication to us suggests otherwise," the BJP leaders said.

"You raise concerns about safety investments, yet under our tenure, the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) was established for critical safety-related works. The Railways spent over Rs 1 lakh cr on RRSK works between 2017-18 and 2021-22. Our total safety expenditure in the last 9 years of Rs 1,78,012 cr is 2.5 times the expenditure during your era. It is amusing how you have the confidence to lecture us on rail safety after performing so miserably during the 10 years of UPA," the BJP leaders said to Kharge.

They further hit out at Congress over its continuous remarks on the Anti-Collision device in the Odisha train accident and said, "We are amused at how seriously the Congress Party speaks about the Anti-Collision device. Only if your party-led Governments had worked on it as seriously you speak about it, it could have deployed across the entire country in 6 decades of your (mis)rule".

They pointed out that in the past 9 years, Railways appointed 4.58 Lakh new appointees and currently recruitment process to appoint about 1.52 Lakh candidates is ongoing.

Thus in our 10 years, we would appoint more than 6.1 lakh youngsters, which is almost 50 per cent more than of 4.11 lakh candidates appointed during the 10 years of UPA.

Quoting the latest Railway appointment data, they said the 5,518 freshly appointed Assistant Loco Pilots quash your allegations on neglecting this sector.

"You raise concerns about safety investments, yet under our tenure, the Rashtriya Rail Sanraksha Kosh (RRSK) was established for critical safety-related works. Railways spent over Rs 1 Lakh Cr on RRSK works between 2017-18 and 2021-22. Our total safety expenditure in the last 9 years of Rs 178,012 crore is 2.5 times the expenditure during your era. It is amusing how you have the confidence to lecture us on rail safety after performing so miserably during the 10 years of UPA," the BJP MPS said.

They went on to say "We are amused at how seriously the Congress Party speaks about the Anti-Collision device. Only if your party led Governments had worked on it as seriously you speak about it, it could have deployed across the entire country in 6 decades of your (mis)rule."

Highlighting on the safety management in Railways during the last 9 years, the MPs said "The fact remains that we developed andadopted the Anti-Collision device National Automatic Train Protection (ATP) in July 2020. After successful testing of ATP, it was installed as KAVACH on 1,465 RKM on South Central Railway".

On expenditure on safety, the MPS said "It has been more than Rs 1.78 lakh crore, including Rs 1.09 lakh crore on track renewals alone".

They further pointed out that "The Anti-Collision Device developed by Konkan Railway during your government did not pass the necessary technical and operational feasibility requirements. A new system was developed and successfully adopted as In the next phase, KAVACH will be installed on 34,000 RKM at the cost of Rs 13,000 crore. The first 3,000 RKM on Delhi – Mumbai and Delhi – Howrah will be operational next year".

The letter stated "Our Government is determined to revive the Railway infrastructure from the neglect it suffered for over six decades.

"For more than 60 years, Railways suffered from inadequate investments. The consolidation of railway budget put the Railways at the forefront of the Government’s fiscal policy".

Highlighting the increased allocation for the Railways in the Budget, the MPs said "In the 10-year period from 2004 to 2014, the total Gross Budgetary Support for Railways was Rs 1.64 lakh crore. The Gross Budgetary Support for Railways in the year 2023-24 alone is 2.4 lakh crore. In the 10 years since 2014, the total GBS has been 8.26 lakh crore".

On the merger of the Railway Budget into the General Budget, they said "It has not compromised the autonomy and decision-making capacity of Railways. On the contrary, it has helped bridge the investment gaps created in 2004-14 period".

They concluded that "In 2014, we inherited a Railways gasping for breath. Nine years down the line, our efforts have injected it with newfound strength. Record progress has been made in electrification of the network and in the past nine years 37,011 RKM have been electrified, taking the electrification of the network to 90 per cent. Indigenously developed Vande Bharat trains have been introduced which have completely transformed the travel experience. 1,275 stations are being redeveloped under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme with modern facilities".