JMM advises Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to focus on job, not roles

CM announces Rs 200,000 for deceased, Rs 50,000 for injured in train accident

Ranchi, July 30: Jharkhand Health Minister Banna Gupta and Tribal Welfare Minister Deepak Birua arrived in Barabambo on Tuesday amid the Howrah-Mumbai train accident.

The Health Minister has announced that the Jharkhand government will provide relief of Rs 200,000 to the families of the deceased.

The Congress leader also hit out at the Railway Ministry and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He said that the Prime Minister is failing to prevent train accidents with the cooperation of the Railway Ministry. He said that the Railway Ministry claimed to have brought advanced devices, which would reduce train accidents, but that does not seem to be happening.

Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed grief over the train accident at Chakradharpur Railway Division of Seraikela and extended his heartfelt condolences to the people who lost their lives in the incident.

Talking to reporters in the Jharkhand Assembly, the Chief Minister said that the Jharkhand government along with the Health Minister decided to send a team to the spot to take stock of the ongoing relief and rescue operations as soon as the news about the train accident was received this morning.

The team has returned from the spot. The state government has decided to immediately give Rs 2 lakh per person to the families of the passengers who died in the Howrah Mumbai Mail Express accident near Barabambo railway station and Rs 50,000 per person will be given to the passengers who were injured in this accident.

Hemant Soren expressed concern over the increasing number of train accidents and said such incidents are happening continuously.

“The train that was supposed to be on the track derailed. As a result, human lives and property were also lost. I pray for the peace of the souls of those who died in this accident and may God give their families strength to bear this moment of grief,” Soren said.

Expressing concern over the frequent train accidents, he said, “The railways, which were considered a lifeline for the middle and lower middle classes, have been so fragmented that they are no longer connectable. The middle class, lower middle class, poor and labourers depend on it. It was a means of travel from one end of the country to the other. Today, that lifeline has been fragmented. Whatever the Railway Ministry says and shows through the media, the reality of it is before all of us today.

Meanwhile, hours after the Howrah-Mumbai Mail derailed in Jharkhand, the JMM on Tuesday said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw should “stop making reels” and instead focus on his work.

The ruling party in Jharkhand also said that the “entire responsibility” for the train accident “lies with the railway minister and the central government”.

In a post on X, JMM said, “Hemant Soren Ji of INDIA Bloc has no hand in this. Don’t give threats to trap us in ED/CBI trap.”
Former Chief Minister and BJP state president Babulal Marandi tagged: “The entire responsibility for this (train accident) lies with your Railway Minister and the Central government. Stop the Railway Minister from making rolls and ask him to focus on Railways.”
Opposition parties accuse the Railways Minister of being “too busy making videos for social media platforms and not focusing on passenger safety”.