Railway Minister suspends four officials for providing old, dirty train coaches for BSF personnel

As the videos depicting the unacceptable state of the coaches went viral, the railways faced backlash from various quarters, leading senior railway authorities to take notice.

New Delhi: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday ordered the suspension of four railway officials and ordered a probe into complaints of dilapidated and dirty coaches provided to ferry Border Security Force (BSF) personnel from Tripura for deployment during the Amarnath Yatra in Kashmir.

The minister asserted that the dignity of the security forces is paramount and such negligence will not be tolerated at any level, according to a statement from the railway ministry.

“An inquiry has also been ordered so that such incidents shouldn’t take place in the future,” it said.

Three senior section engineers and a coaching depot officer of Alipurduar Rail Division have been suspended, the statement said.

The ministry said a special train with all facilities has been arranged for smooth and comfortable movement of the security personnel.

About 1,200 BSF troops drawn from 13 companies were scheduled to board a special train on June 6 for Jammu Tawi from Udaipur in Tripura. The train had to make a few stops in between and collect troops from four locations in Tripura, Assam and West Bengal.

Officials said the train was made available to the BSF on June 9, and when they saw its “poor and unhygienic” condition, the jawans inspecting a coach recorded videos.

Cong slams Modi govt

Taking to X, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed said, “This is what happens when the government’s entire focus is on PR for a few flashy trains, while the masses are forced to travel like animals.

“Shame on @narendramodi and @AshwiniVaishnaw for providing a filthy train - full of dirt, cockroaches, and broken seats - for our BSF soldiers heading for Amarnath Yatra duty.”

The Northeast Frontier Railway Zone dismissed the allegations in a post on X, where social media users criticised the railways over the condition of the coaches while reacting to videos.

'Incorrect'

“The allegation that BSF was provided such kind of coach for travel is incorrect. Coaches are provided for travel only after necessary maintenance, repairs and cleaning. This video is of an unexamined coach which was being sent for repair and was not meant for travel of BSF forces,” the NFR said.

The BSF troops were part of the additional deployment of central forces being done by the Union government for the annual Amarnath Yatra scheduled to take place from July 3 in Jammu and Kashmir.

(With PTI inputs)