Why in News?

• Investigation into the recent tragic train accident in Odisha, the deadliest train crash in India in over two decades, is being conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) for the south-eastern circle.

What’s in Today’s Article?

• About CRS (Objectives, Functions, Why Under Aviation Ministry, etc.) 

About Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS):

• The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) is a statutory body. It is headed by the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety.
• As the name suggests, CRS 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.
• It is, however, worth noting that 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 or principle behind this, put simply, is to keep the CRS insulated from the influence of the country’s railway establishment and prevent conflicts of interest.

How CRS Became Independent of Ministry of Railways?

• The Government of India Act, 1935 said that functions for securing the safety of railway operations should be performed by an authority independent of the federal railway authority or the Railway Board.
• These functions included conducting railway accident probes.
• But due to the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, the idea did not take off and the Railway Inspectorate continued to function under the control of the Railway Board.
• Consequently, in May 1941, the Railway Inspectorate was separated from the Railway Board and put under the administrative control of the then Department of Posts and Air.
• Since then, the Inspectorate, which was re-designated as the Commissioner of Railway Safety in 1961, has been under the control of the central ministry exercising control over civil aviation in India.