A major accident was averted at Goraul railway station in Bihar after two trains were placed on the same track. On the 23rd of May, Sivan-Samastipur Passenger train and Bihar Sampark Kranti Express came together on the same track but a massive tragedy was averted at the last moment.
After an investigation was completed on the matter, the station superintendent was punished with forced retirement. The investigation concluded that Sunil Kumar Singh’s mistake on a fateful day could have resulted in a major tragedy. The decision was taken after the investigative team of the Sonpur circle of the Muzaffarpur-Hajipur Division submitted its report on the matter.
It’s believed to be the first instance of such strict punishment in the Sonpur circle.
Chaos had erupted on the 23rd of May when the Sampark Kranti Express headed towards the Sivan-Samastipur Passenger. A stampede had broken out when passengers ran helter-skelter to save their lives. Shalu Devi, Savita Devi, Chandan Kumar and Shaukat Khatun had suffered grievous injuries.
It was only when Ravi Shankar Kumar, the driver of the Sampark Kranti Express, put the brakes on after noticing the other train on the same track. Fortunately, the train stopped with 200 meters between them. The passengers went on a rampage afterwards and the station superintendent himself was injured in the process.
The Modi government has forced to retire 312 government officials over either corruption or inefficiency since 2014. Minister of State for Personnel Jitendra Singh had said in the Parliament that the decision was taken after reviewing the work of about 1.2 lakh officials both at the Group A and Group B levels. The retirement was recommended for 125 Group A officers and 187 from Group B.
Last month, days after sacking a handful of tainted officers from service, the Modi government passed a directive to all departments and ministries to prepare monthly reports identifying officials facing charges of corruption and other wrongdoing against them.
Union Minister Piyush Goyal recently spoke about how the Modi government is attempting to clean the system of corrupt and inefficient officials.
With action being taken against some officers who have integrity issues, the right message is going to people.
Even in the Railways, we are now studying the profiles of many officers to see if some action can be initiated against them to send the right message. pic.twitter.com/vsK2sMeytq
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) July 14, 2019
Goyal said that even the Railway Ministry is now looking at profiles of officials to identify the corrupt and inefficient officials.
