Vaishnaw announces reward & punishment regime for minimising derailments

NEW DELHI: In a bid to improve safety and accountability, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday announced the introduction of a new reward and punishment mechanism that will take effect from next year.

Zones that record zero derailments will be rewarded with a "Shield Award" and cash while zones with the highest number of derailments will be excluded from any awards, reinforcing the need for accountability and safety measures.

Speaking at a railway ministry's award function, the minister asked senior railway officials to immediately visit accident sites and get to the root cause. "Suggest structural, procedural and systemic changes without any hesitation. Our focus should be ensuring safety. Let's work three-time more in the next five years," Vaishnaw said.

He also said that there should be three-fold focus on maintenance and training of personnel. "Best maintenance and quality work should become our habit... Working in railways is the best opportunity to serve a large section of society," the minister said.

Vaishnaw also said there is a need to reduce the gap between officers and staff working in the field. He added a new module of training will be introduced from next year to address this.

Under this, officers posted at headquarters will visit field officers and spend time to understand the issues on ground. Similarly, personnel working in field offices will be brought to headquarters for training to understand how policies are made.

Vaishnaw said officers should not take these just as advice, but they need to work on them. "I will ask about progress when I meet you during my visit to sites and during field trips. You all know I don't forget easily," he said.