Lok Sabha members D V Sadananda Gowda, S Muniswamy, Tejasvi Surya and P C Mohan have written a joint letter to Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
The four BJP Lok Sabha members on Friday said that the BJP government has not neglected the railways and recruited over 4.58 lakh staff in the past 9 years.
These MPs said 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 going on. Thus in our 10 years, we would appoint more than 6.1 lakh youngsters, which is almost 50 per cent more than 4.11 lakh candidates appointed during the 10 years of UPA.
The MPs sent rebuttal to Kharge for his criticism against the NDA Government's policy on railways following the Balasore train accident in which 288 killed and more than 1000 injured.
Kharge, who also earlier served as the Railway Minister, wrote a lengthy letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi citing the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) findings, alleging that the NDA government was compromising passengers safety.
“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 MPs wrote.
The incident of February 2023, near Hosadurga in Karnataka where a major tragedy was averted after two trains almost came on the same line, the MPs said that the incident was thoroughly investigated by Railways. The responsible persons were proceeded against. All the Railways personnel were counselled on the strict implementation of maintenance practices, the MPs wrote.
"It may also be noted that there was no collision in Mysore as stated in your letter. It doesn’t suit a leader of your stature to be writing letters to the PM based on facts obtained from ‘Whatsapp University’. But perhaps as the Vice-Chancellor of Whatsapp University, you are forced to regurgitate fake news as facts," the MPs wrote.
“You have held the responsibility of the Ministry of Railways and you must be aware that the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is an independent and statutory authority. Recently in 2022, the Commission was strengthened by upgrading the post of CRS to Apex level,” the letter said.
"You question rail and weld testing, despite your awareness of its rigorousness. Let me remind you: from 2017 to 2023, East Coast Railway alone has tested 1,11,192 km rail and 7,39,705 welds."
"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. 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 MPs wrote.