Asserting that at no point of time was rail safety compromised, the Ministry of Railways today said it was scrutinising the Justice G.C. Garg Commission report on the Khanna rail accident which took place on November 26, 1998.Referring to the Action Taken Report in this regard, an official release said such reports require detailed scrutiny by various directorates of the Railway Ministry.‘‘It is required to be submitted to Parliament within six months of the receipt of the report, which is due by January 15, 2005 and the same is being ensured by the Railway Ministry,’’ the release said.Clarifying on the The Indian Express report, ‘Why Khanna probe has Action Not-taken Report,’ the release stated that the present chairman of the Railway Board R.K. Singh was Executive Director in the Track Directorate from April 1996 to November 1997 while the accident took place on November 26, 1998.‘‘The culprit rail, which fractured due to some defect in it and led to aforesaid rail accident was procured in April 1990. At the time also, R.K. Singh was not in the Track Directorate of Railway Board but was Additional Divisional Railway Manager, N E Railway, Lucknow,’’ the release said.The Express report was based on the Garg Commission report which had indicted the Track Directorate and attached the letters written by Singh relaxing norms for rail procurement.The release said the main role of the Track Directorate of the Railway Board is to lay down specifications for the railways from time to time and whenever relaxation in the hydrogen content of liquid steel has been granted to Bhilai Steel Plant for supply of rails, it has been done with clear provision. ‘‘All this has been done fully in keeping with the extant world practices and was fully in order,’’ it added.
