Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) chief K.S. Alagiri said on Sunday that the Centre must show the same interest in investing in rail safety as it does in the “privatisation” of the Railways. In a statement, he said Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should resign, taking responsibility for the accident. The Union government must substantially increase the relief given to the families of the dead, he said.
“The Union government must improve the safety standards and implement safety precautions,” he said. According to him, the accident occurred only because of the railway management’s inefficiency.
Pointing out that the number of people dying in railway accidents had been increasing every year, he alleged: “Since 2014, there have been 259 deaths in 27 rail accidents. Who is responsible for these deaths? The BJP government that spends thousands of crores to build a bullet train and a Vande Bharat Express has not set aside ₹40,000 crore to improve safety.”
