Why in news?

• The Ministry of Railways has made training in disaster management mandatory for railway officers.
• The National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR), Vadodara, and the Indian Railway Institute of Disaster Management (IRIDM), Bengaluru, would work together in imparting the comprehensive training programme.

What’s in today’s article?

• National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR)
• Indian Railway Institute of Disaster Management (IRIDM)
• Commissioner of Railway Safety

National Academy of Indian Railways (NAIR)

• NAIR is a training institute for Indian Railways (IR) officers.
• It was established in 1930 as the Railway Staff College and moved to its current location in Vadodara, Gujarat in 1952.
• Recently, the Railway Board has ordered NAIR to hand over all its assets, including buildings and other infrastructural facilities, to the Gati Shakti Vishwavidyalaya (GSV).
  • GSV is a central university in Vadodara, Gujarat, India.
  • It was established in 2018 as the National Rail and Transportation Institute (NRTI) and upgraded to a central university in 2022.
  • The university is sponsored by the Ministry of Railways and is mandated to work across railways, shipping, ports, highways, roads, waterways, and aviation.

Indian Railways Institute of Disaster Management (IRIDM)

• IRIDM is a national institute in Bengaluru that offers disaster management courses and training.
• IRIDM envisioned in High Level Committee (HLC) on Disaster Management in Indian Railways, was Commissioned in the year 2019.
• In the year 2021, it was brought under Indian Railways Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineers (IRIMEE), Jamalpur, a century old Centralized Training Institute.

Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS)

• About
  • CRS is a statutory body. It is headed by the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety.
  • It deals with matters related to safety of rail travel and operations, as laid down in the Railways Act, 1989.
  • Investigating serious train accidents is one of the key responsibilities of the CRS. The commission also makes recommendations to the government.
• Headquarters: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh.
• Administrative control
  • The CRS does not report to the Ministry of Railways of the Railway Board.
  • It is, in fact, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA).
  • The reason is to keep the CRS insulated from the influence of the country’s railway establishment and prevent conflicts of interest.

News Summary: Railway officers to be trained in disaster management

Reasons behind this step

• Investigation into the Odisha train tragedy highlighted the need of faster disaster response
  • The move comes after investigation into the devastating Odisha train tragedy that the disaster response could have been faster.
    • In June 2023, three trains collided in Balasore district in Odisha which left about 290 passengers dead and scores injured.
  • In the recent floods in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, a Superfast Express was stopped at Srivaikuntam railway stations after the railway track got breached a few hundreds of metres ahead.
  • The first help arrived several hours later after the Indian Air Force helicopters hovered over the railway station and dropped food packets.
• The report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety
  • More emphasis on disaster management was laid following the report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety, Eastern Circle.
  • As per this report, Railway Board should review the system of disaster response in the Zonal Railways.
• Reliance on the State administration and Central agencies for relief and rescue operations
  • The railways have Accident Relief Trains stationed at major junctions across the railway network with adequate manpower and equipment to reach accident sites or any scene of disturbance.
  • However, the focus would be more on restoring rail traffic.
  • The railways rely more on the State administration and Central agencies for relief and rescue operations.