<p>To put in place mechanisms to avoid accidents, the Indian Railways has turned to the Kakodkar Committee report on safety but is finding it difficult to implement the recommendations due to financial constraints.<br /><br /></p>.<p>At the same time, several recommendations could not be implemented because of the changed focus of the ministry, officials said.<br /><br />The High Level Safety Review Committee headed by nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar had submitted its report in February 2012. The Railway Ministry accepted 87 of 106 recommendations made by the panel. The ministry also claimed to have implemented 19 of them.<br /><br />Apart from making recommendations on general safety matters and organisational structure in the Railways, the Kakodkar Committee has asked for huge modernisation in signaling and telecommunications.<br /><br />Most of the recommendations implemented by the ministry relate to establishing research institutions and some organisational changes. Some of them are related to rail-related structures like level crossings and Rail Bridges.<br /><br />The Kakodkar committee has strongly recommended immediate removal of old-styled coaches.<br /><br />It had said that production of old-styled coaches should be stopped immediately and coaches that are being used should be equipped with new security features in a ‘mission mode’.<br /><br />However, this very recommendation was being implemented in a slow pace. Only after Kanpur tragedy, the Railway Board on Monday decided to expedite the process.<br /><br />Officials cited financial constraints as the reason for going slow on it. The old-styled coaches designed by Integral Coach Factory are cheaper.<br /><br />The same is true for other recommendations. The Committee recommended sophisticated sensors for detecting rail fractures and other technical defects on tracks. This is also being implemented at a slow pace because finances are not available for it, officials said.<br /><br />One of the major recommendations was of filling up all safety-related vacancies. It is, however, being delayed because of changed focus of the Railways, top officials said.<br /><br />They said that private investments in core sectors have been negligible and the Railways has no big surplus. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to meet safety challenges, they added.</p>
<p>To put in place mechanisms to avoid accidents, the Indian Railways has turned to the Kakodkar Committee report on safety but is finding it difficult to implement the recommendations due to financial constraints.<br /><br /></p>.<p>At the same time, several recommendations could not be implemented because of the changed focus of the ministry, officials said.<br /><br />The High Level Safety Review Committee headed by nuclear scientist Anil Kakodkar had submitted its report in February 2012. The Railway Ministry accepted 87 of 106 recommendations made by the panel. The ministry also claimed to have implemented 19 of them.<br /><br />Apart from making recommendations on general safety matters and organisational structure in the Railways, the Kakodkar Committee has asked for huge modernisation in signaling and telecommunications.<br /><br />Most of the recommendations implemented by the ministry relate to establishing research institutions and some organisational changes. Some of them are related to rail-related structures like level crossings and Rail Bridges.<br /><br />The Kakodkar committee has strongly recommended immediate removal of old-styled coaches.<br /><br />It had said that production of old-styled coaches should be stopped immediately and coaches that are being used should be equipped with new security features in a ‘mission mode’.<br /><br />However, this very recommendation was being implemented in a slow pace. Only after Kanpur tragedy, the Railway Board on Monday decided to expedite the process.<br /><br />Officials cited financial constraints as the reason for going slow on it. The old-styled coaches designed by Integral Coach Factory are cheaper.<br /><br />The same is true for other recommendations. The Committee recommended sophisticated sensors for detecting rail fractures and other technical defects on tracks. This is also being implemented at a slow pace because finances are not available for it, officials said.<br /><br />One of the major recommendations was of filling up all safety-related vacancies. It is, however, being delayed because of changed focus of the Railways, top officials said.<br /><br />They said that private investments in core sectors have been negligible and the Railways has no big surplus. Under such circumstances, it is difficult to meet safety challenges, they added.</p>
