New Delhi, July 22: There has been a sharp decline in train accidents in the country over the last 12 years as a result of the high priority being accorded to safety on Indian Railways.

The annual budgetary allocation for safety has shot up more than three-fold from Rs 39,200 crore in 2013-14 to Rs 1,20,389 crore in 2026-27, the Centre told the Parliament on Wednesday.

The number of “consequential accidents” came down from 135 in 2014-15 to 16 in 2025-26 and only two accidents have been reported in 2026-27 till June this year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a query in the Lok Sabha.

“The causes of the accidents that took place over Indian Railways broadly include track defects, locomotive or coach defects, equipment failures, human errors, etc. Rail safety has now been strengthened through modern technology, infrastructure and enhanced maintenance. As many as 6,671 stations have been equipped with electronic interlocking and complete track circuiting while 10,395 level crossing gates have also been brought under the interlocking system to minimise human errors,” Union Minister Vaishnaw noted.

Complete track circuiting of these railway stations has been undertaken to enhance safety by verification of track occupancy by electrical means.

Detailed instructions on issues related with safety of signalling, for example, mandatory correspondence check, alteration work protocol, preparation of completion drawing, etc. have been issued.

The Indian Railways has added 36,429 track kilometres during 2014–26, which is more than 2.5 times higher than 2004–14 which has enhanced track safety.

Modernisation of rolling stock and maintenance practices strengthens safety, with LHB coach production rising more than 21 times to 49,366 during 2014–26 and weld failures reduced by 93 per cent.

The indigenously developed Kavach 4.0 safety system has been successfully commissioned on 2,490 route kilometres covering the high-density Delhi–Mumbai and Delhi–Howrah routes.

Kavach implementation work is also under progress on 21,937 route kilometres, with installation being taken up on 7,435 locomotives and 1,200 EMU/MEMU trains.

The amount utilised for Kavach works so far up to June 2026 is Rs 3874.9 crore.

The allocation of funds during the year 2026-27 is Rs 2066.24 crore.

Requisite funds are made available as per the progress of works.

In reply to another query, Union Minister Vaishnaw said that at present, recruitment against 1,61,889 vacancies of non-gazetted personnel has been taken up on Indian Railways as per annual calendar 2024, 2025 and 2026.

During January to December 2024, ten Centralised Employment Notifications for 92,116 vacancies were notified for filling up of posts of Assistant Loco Pilots, technicians, Sub-Inspectors, Constables in Railway Protection Force (RPF), Junior Engineers, Depot Material Superintendent, Chemical and Metallurgical Assistant, Paramedical Categories, Non-Technical Popular Categories (Graduate), Non-Technical Popular Categories (Under-Graduate), Ministerial and Isolated Categories and Level-1 categories such as Assistants, Track Maintainers and Pointsman.

First stage/Single stage Computer Based Tests for 92,116 posts have been completed.

“During 2026-2027 (up to June 30, 2026) panels for more than 3,300 candidates for various posts, including the posts of Technicians, Junior Engineers, Paramedical Categories, Ministerial and Isolated categories and Assistant Loco Pilots have been finalised. Majority of them are in safety categories,” Union Minister added.

Hyderabad, July 22: Workers of BJP and Congress clashed near the BJP office in Hyderabad on Wednesday as both the parties protested against each other over Tuesday’s incidents in New Delhi during the protest near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence by Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders over the police action against students protesting the NEET paper leaks.

While leaders and cadres of the BJP tried to take out a rally to protest what they called breach of security by Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, Congress party staged a protest in front of the BJP’s office to condemn detention of Rahul Gandhi and other leaders.

The activists of both the parties attacked each other with sticks and stones, resulting in injuries to some of the workers and a policewoman.

There was high tension near Telangana BJP headquarters and the nearby Congress headquarters Gandhi Bhavan in Nampally area.

Large number of BJP workers had gathered at the party office to participate in the protest against the Congress party. They marched towards Gandhi Bhavan and damaged flexis of the Congress party.

Police detained Telangana BJP president N. Ramchander Rao and other leaders and shifted him to Goshamahal Police Station.

Later, Congress and NSUI workers marched towards the BJP office to stage a protest.

The Congress workers led by MLC Balmori Venkat tried to lay siege to the BJP office. They raised slogans against Prime Minister Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The BJP workers also gathered in large numbers, leading to a clash.

Workers of both the parties attacked each other with sticks and stones even as police intervened to detain protestors.

The protest and counter protest and clash led to a massive traffic jam in Nampally, Moazzam Jahi Market and the adjoining busy areas.

Meanwhile, attempt by Congress workers to stage protest at the office of Union Minister of State for Home Bandi Sanjay led to a clash between the cadres of the two parties in Karimnagar town.

Police resorted to lathi charge to disperse the clashing groups.

BJP workers alleged that they were attacked by Congress activists with sticks. The saffron party workers also retaliated.

New Delhi, July 22: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Bansuri Swaraj on Wednesday alleged that Congress MP and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP), Rahul Gandhi, was running away from the duties of the Opposition and instead “only attempting to create a ruckus”.

This comes a day after LoP Gandhi along with other senior Congress leaders and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav staged a sit-in near Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence over the lathi charge on anti-NEET leak protestors, before being briefly detained by the police.

Addressing a press conference, Bansuri Swaraj reiterated the Centre’s stand that both Prime Minister Modi and the NDA government always prioritise the interests of students. “We work to ensure protection of the students’ future,” she asserted.

Reacting to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP)-led agitation that has been demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, she said: “The movement, which CJP and other parties started, it was said that this is a students’ movement. You will see, the government’s attitude towards this movement has been sensitive.”

Referring to Abhijeet Dipke’s return from the US on June 6, the BJP MP said: “When he came on 6th June, Delhi Police gave him permission at the airport itself. Remember, Delhi Police did not wait for CJP’s lawyers to arrive and ask permission from the police. Respecting democracy, Delhi Police permitted (the protest) on the same day, and though that permission expired at 5 p.m., the protesters remained sitting there. They staged a sit-in at Jantar Mantar for 21 days. The Delhi Police did not carry out any action to remove them (from the protest site).”

“The government allowed this protest as long as it was peaceful. It is your right to oppose in a democracy…even when the protest took place without permission, the government didn’t create obstruction,” she added.

She alleged that the CJP-led protest is being “politicised”.

“The shocking part is that, on one hand, it is being claimed that this is a students’ movement, but you can clearly see how it is being politicised. Opposition parties are using it to serve their political interests, while they themselves are not united. You saw yesterday how Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi sat outside the Prime Minister’s residence, not at Jantar Mantar. We all know that the Prime Minister’s residence is a high-security zone. Rahul Gandhi himself should know this. After all, he spent part of his childhood at the residence, so he cannot be unaware of these facts,” she said.

Swaraj further accused LoP Gandhi of retracking from his statement.

“He (Rahul Gandhi) said that if the government is willing to discuss the issue in the Parliament then ‘we will leave the place’, since it the PM Modi-led government’s policy to seek solutions through dialogue, Union MoS Jitendra Singh reached there and tried to forge a communication with Rahul ji. But the Lok Sabha LoP retracted from his statement,” she said.

Moreover, the BJP MP claimed that no formal notice for a discussion on the paper leak has been submitted by the Opposition in the House.

She said: “Today the ‘193’ notice was submitted in the Parliament, even I submitted a notice seeking an open discussion on the NEET examination…because the government has nothing to hide and is in fact committed to students’ welfare. We are ready to answer the students of the country. But it seems that the Opposition is running away from its responsibilities.”

“Even the notice for discussion (on NEET) was submitted by the treasury benches and not by the Opposition. No formal notice was submitted by the LoP. The House does not function on anybody’s whims and fancies,” she remarked.

Swaraj stated that since Rahul Gandhi has the means to raise his voice in the House, he was asked to do so in a formal manner and get off from the high security zone near PM Modi’s residence, “but they don’t want to fulfill the role of the Opposition and instead only create ruckus”.