Top railway officials sent on leave or suspended after Utkal derailment back at work

NEW DELHI: Railway officials, including senior officers of Northern Zone who were sent on leave or suspended after the derailment of Utkal Express near Muzzafarnagar in Uttar Pradesh returned to their duties on Monday.
However, railways said those officers directly responsible for the accident, according to inquiry conducted by commissioner of railways safety (CRS), are facing strict action.
The mishap, caused due to negligence of railways staff on August 19, killed 23 people and left several passengers injured.
Northern Railways general manager R K Kulshrestha and divisional railway manager (Delhi division) R N Singh, who were sent on leave in wake of the accident, are back at work.
The move came after preliminary findings of CRS, which was probing the accident, fixed primary responsibility on certain officers and employees who have not been exonerated and are still facing strict action, said an official.
The suspensions of senior divisional engineer and assistant engineer of Delhi division were revoked after issuance of a minor chargesheet.
A senior section engineer and a junior engineer remained suspended while 13 employees, including a junior engineer and 11 'gangmen' or track maintenance personnel, who were removed from service for "dereliction of duty", have failed to get any relief.
Another official said, “GM, DRM and senior divisional engineer were relatively new to their current postings and have excellent track record.”
“An internal inquiry has also found that senior officers, including GM and DRM took prompt action in relief & rescue operations which saved several lives,” he added.
“If railways is seen to be taking action against them, who as per inquiry report are not directly responsible for the unfortunate accident, it will demotivate employees,” an official added.
Member (engineering), railway board, a secretary level officer, A K Mittal had already joined duty on August 30, a day before his retirement.
Having established negligence to be the cause of the derailment on August 19, the railways cracked the whip sending some top officials on leave and suspending others. The then railway minister Suresh Prabhu had also offered to resign after another derailment, claiming moral responsibility for the mishaps.