Bhopal: Two weeks after Mohan Yadav took oath as the new Chief Minister after the BJP registered a resounding victory in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly election held recently, the state witnessed the horrific Guna bus tragedy in which 13 people were burnt alive and over a dozen injured on December 27.
In the context of the number of people who died in this accident it was the second biggest tragedy of 2023. Thirty six people had died when a concrete slab covering a years old bawadi (step-well) collapsed at a temple in Indore in March last year.
After the Guna bus tragedy, all eyes were on CM Mohan Yadav, who reached the spot the very next morning (the incident had occurred late night on December 27) and met the grieving families of those who had lost their lives. Yadav also reviewed the current situation in the state’s transport department and noted that lapses by the officials caused the tragedy.
All that came was just routine or follow up action, but what was noticeable was the prompt action of the Chief Minister which was applauded even by the Opposition. Upon returning to Bhopal from Guna, Mohan Yadav accepted that the casual approach of the officials of the transport department caused this tragedy.
Yadav immediately ordered a major bureaucratic reshuffle in the transport department, besides punitive action against the officials of the regional (Gwalior division) transport department. Principal Secretary Sukhveer Singh, who had been given additional charge of the transport department, was replaced and Additional Chief Secretary (Home Department) Rajesh Kumar Rajora took over.
Besides, transport commissioner Sanjay Kumar Jha, Guna district collector Tarun Rathi, and superintendent of police Vijay Kumar Khatri were transferred with immediate effect. What was shocking was that the fitness of the bus that met with the accident had expired in 2015, its insurance expired in 2019 while the road tax had not been paid for the last two years. The bus owned by a BJP leader, was running on the roads without any check from the transport officials. The bus owner Bhanu Sikarwar was arrested two days later.
Chief Minister Yadav had then said that his government will try to ensure the state does not witness such an accident again and has assured that those found responsible, including officials, would be punished. Former Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his regime had also made several plans, formed committees, ordered inquiries when such incidents or irregularities took place, but the problems persisted.
Whether Yadav’s actions, including the reshuffle in the transport department, would be enough to break the strong nexus between the politicians, bureaucrats and bus operators remains to be seen. It is a decades old problem in Madhya Pradesh’s transport department and a strong nexus has formed there.
Government-run transport (except buses run by the Municipal Corporations) in the state had stopped two decades ago giving autonomy to the private bus operators.
The nexus between officials of the transport department and the bus operators, who are mostly either politically well connected people or politicians, makes them disregard the safety and security of the people travelling in private transport in the state.
Another of Yadav’s actions that was applauded was the transfer of an IAS officer within 24 hours. The officer had made an ‘aukaat’ remark to a truck driver during the nationwide protest that was called by transporters to oppose the new hit-and-run law.
Several Opposition leaders, including Congress MLA and Leader of Opposition in the legislative assembly, appreciated Yadav for his prompt action.
–IANS