Sunday, March 3, 2013

The railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors

Mamata Banerjee is drawing flak for neglecting the ministry, but as a response to an RTI query from TSI (a Planman Media publication) shows, the railway minister isn't doing as badly as her immediate predecessors. A report by Vikas Kumar

Nitish Kumar does not seem to be lagging far behind. He issued 414 passes during his first one-year tenure in New Delhi's Rail Bhavan. On the other hand, Mamata Banerjee, during her first term as Railway Minister, issued no more than four passes.

Nitish probably took a leaf out of Mamata's book and improved his record during his second term. He issued no free pass from 2001 to 2004. This discussion will remain incomplete without mentioning Lalu Prasad Yadav, who issued 352 passes, out of which 134 passes were issued in a single year span of 2008-09.

A senior level officer, on condition of anonymity, told TSI, “During Nitish Kumar's second term, some steps were taken to improve safety standards of the railways. However, during the Lalu Prasad regime, safety concerns were put on the back-burner in a mad race to generate revenue. Modernisation of the railways was put on hold. The negative impact of that trend is being felt now.”

Subhash Chandra Agrawal, who filed a separate RTI regarding the Ministry of Railways, says, “No recommendation has been made by the Railway Minister for her personal staff.” On the other hand, another RTI response revealed that Lalu Prasad had made free lifetime passes for himself and an assistant. When Mamata assumed office she cancelled all these passes. She also drastically reduced VVIP quotas on all Bihar-bound trains. The RTI response also revealed that she does not use the official vehicle that she is entitled to as railway minister.

A hue and cry after a major mishap is nothing new for the railways. Lalu Prasad said, “One should see why such accidents are taking place. This is a big lapse.” However, the Rs 17,000-crore fund for the railways has remained unutilised. Ramavatar Singh, general secretary of the Railway Workers' Union, says, “Two years ago, there were 7,000 gangmen in Delhi. Today it is only 800. This is the situation in every department of the railways. How can we assure safety?”

Mamata can be criticised for not devoting enough attention to her Ministry, and it is true that the railways is suffering as a result, but her track record is much better than many of those who have handled the ministry in the recent past.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

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