Indian Railways and India!

Indian Railways suffer from one basic deficiency. Insecure ministers and more insecure bureaucracy formed by technical branches and non-technical personnel, with technical ones acting more bureaucratically and non-technical persons acting to be more technical on technical issues, each branch acting in self-interest not related to Indian Railways as a whole, and doing their best to pull each other down.

This show is watched with amusement by the rest of the Ministries in Delhi manned masters of all they see in India who also control the cadre of Indian Railway higher management through the Establishment Officer processing the case for Appointments Committee. There is scant respect for us over there. The stubbornness typical of insecure child is what is commented upon.

The Planning Commission's attitude to railways is typically summarised in comments of Montek Singh, who said if there is one ministry he dare not advise, it happened to be railways. They are simply stubborn, is their view. For a more than 4 decades since independence railways were not even included as infrastructure like roads and airports for making financial policy papers for support, in terms of relief of duties and concessions.

SO much engrosssed in internal squabbles, Railways never had any continuing committed plan to which every successive Railway Board worked with a passion to achieve strategic objective.

Every new incumbent invariably condemned the predecessor's approach and so the benefit of a cumulative experience and wisdom of one of the oldest organisations in the country never reflected in making a planned modernisation as Indian Railways, remained a distant dream. Short lived drives to create a tiny island of efficiency in a department, by a particular department is all the Members of Board could achieve.

So the joke goes that Railways could be a century plus old, but experience is only less than two years which is reflected in their decision making in policy matters. That is the tenure of a Member generally.

Longer tenure is not the answer for the organisational commitment to strategic goals.

The Ministers further add to the mess with their personal agendas.

Just keeping the trains moving is all that railmen try hard to achieve, and that truly tires them out, given the daily deteriorating general atmosphere of non-performance all around.

Justifiably railway men look with disdain the file pushing babus of other Ministries whose performance is nothing much to write home about.

So the Members continue to do their individual best -- they are good men and do feel sorry for the way things do not happen in Board. But finally to get out with some honour in tact, is all one railwayman looks forward after all his distinguished service to the country, a 24x 7 responsibility unlike other bureaucrats.

If Government of India lacks vision for the country, so be it, Railways also fall in line.