Odisha train tragedy and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav’s Balasore connection

New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, considered one of the high-performing ministers of the Narendra Modi government, is facing mounting calls for his resignation from the united opposition in the wake of the deadliest triple train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district. Is. Opposition parties, led by the Congress, have accused Vaishnav of ‘complete negligence’ and ‘incompetence’ over the derailment of trains that killed nearly 278 people and injured over 1,000, in what has been described as one of the worst train accidents of the century. being seen as.

Attacking the Narendra Modi government, the opposition has accused the Center of not spending enough on improving railway safety despite several warnings by the CAG, parliamentary standing committees and experts. However, not many people know that the accident fatality rate on Indian Railways has improved significantly over the years due to several steps taken by the government and the Ministry of Railways.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, who said at the time of the tragedy that a technical fault with the signaling system may have caused Friday’s disastrous train accident in Odisha’s Balasore district, has been having sleepless nights since news about the tragedy broke. .

Vaishnav, who has since been camping in Odisha’s Balasore, is supervising the relief and rescue operations along with other agencies, ensuring restoration of affected tracks and resumption of train movement besides helping the victims. PM Modi has been the key person to deal with this huge tragedy.

Old relation with Balasore

Not many know that Vaishnav shares a strange coincidence with Balasore – the site of the devastating triple train accident in Odisha. After passing the Civil Services Examination, Vaishnav served as the District Collector of Balasore during the 90s. He also served as the Collector of Cuttack. He served in Odisha till 2003 before being appointed as Deputy Secretary in the office of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. During his brief stint in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), he contributed immensely in formulating PPP framework in infrastructure projects. He was later appointed as Vajpayee’s private secretary following the defeat of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2004 general elections.

The Union Railway Minister holds an MBA degree from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an MTech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur. He has also held leadership roles in major global companies such as General Electric and Siemens.


He received a gold medal in Electronics and Communication Engineering course from MBM Engineering College (JNVU) in Jodhpur, Rajasthan and completed MTech from IIT Kanpur. He later succeeded in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1994 with an All India Rank of 27.


After completing his MBA from the Wharton School, Vaishnav returned to India and joined GE Transportation as Managing Director. He then joined Siemens as Vice President of Lokomotive and Head of the Urban Infrastructure Strategy department. After leaving the corporate sector in 2012, Vaishnav set up two automotive components manufacturing units, Three T Auto Logistics Pvt Ltd and V G Auto Components Pvt Ltd in Gujarat.


He is a Member of Parliament representing the state of Odisha in the Rajya Sabha since 2019. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha unopposed with the help of members of the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha. Apart from the Ministry of Railways, Vaishnav also holds the portfolios of IT and Communications.