How Many Resigned As Railway Ministers On Moral Grounds In India After Train Mishaps?

In the history of Independent India, only two people have resigned as Railway Ministers taking moral responsibility for mishaps during their tenure.

In the first instance, the third Railway Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri (from 13 May 1952 to 7 December 1956) had resigned from his post taking moral responsibility for the Ariyalur train accident in Tamil Nadu in November 1956 in which 142 people were killed.

After 43 years, the 28th Railway Minister Nitish Kumar quit (from 19 March 1998 to 5 August 1999) on moral grounds for the Gaisal train disaster in Assam in August 1999 that had killed at least 290 people. Then, Nitish Kumar was in the Samata Party.

A year later, rail minister Mamata Banerjee had resigned from her post on moral grounds after two train disasters in 2000, however, Prime Minister Atal Bihari had Vajpayee rejected her resignation.

Unfortunately, during Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's tenure, who was 43rd Railway Minister, major train accidents occurred. In November 2016, around 150 people were killed when 14 coaches of Patna-Indore express got derailed near Kanpur. This was considered as one of the deadliest rail mishaps since 1999.

Secondly, the derailment of 14 coaches of Utkal Express in Muzaffarnagar, left 22 dead and 156 wounded. Later, the Kaifiyat Express had derailed near Auraiya in Uttar Pradesh. Sixty people were injured after 10 coaches of the train derailed.