Railways minister Lalu Prasad on Monday stressed on improving safety but did not detail security measures regarding anti-terrorism planning along the tracks.
DNA ANALYSIS
Railways minister Lalu Prasad on Monday stressed on improving safety but did not detail security measures regarding anti-terrorism planning along the tracks.
The Budget coming in the backdrop of the Samjhauta Express blasts was expected to highlight security initiatives and special funds. Also, the minister’s speech did not talk about public-private partnerships on security issues though work is going on to use the railways network to service the retail sector. The prospective partners are likely to be large corporate houses and retail operators.
The central element of the speech — apart from various pro-people policies — lacked the thrust the existing railways security environment needs. Lalu assured the people that sophisticated anti-collision devices (aimed at minimising disasters) will soon be put to use and that work is “on the last leg”.
But it remains to be seen if the general managers use the special funds — Lalu said special funds would be sanctioned and division heads would be empowered to use them on specific projects — judiciously and on security and safety projects.
Though the minister said a majority of the Special Railway Safety Funds projects will be completed by next month, he did not go into specifics about security-related
projects. Lalu’s announcement that more sophisticated video cameras (to track suspicious movements and pinpoint explosives) will be installed across the country is nothing new. The need of the hour is a policy on integrating manpower and tailor-made gadgets. And it is unlikely to do any good by merely saying that the ministry would see to it that more sniffer dog squads are formed. The exercise of filling up RPF vacancies too is not enough unless the RPF men are trained. It’s time the ministry thought about public-private partnership.
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