Politicization of Railways has lead to its downfall: MP
This is because under former Railway Minister Mamatha Bannerjee Rs. 4,000 crore has been spent on various committees that served no purpose.
Needless expenditure and politicisation of Railways by successive ministers, neo-liberal policies and privatisation have led the Indian Railway into a state of crisis, said Basudeb Acharia, Member of Parliament from Bankura, West Bengal and former Lok Sabha Chairman of the Committee on Railways here on Thursday.
Addressing the Divisional Conference of the Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU), Palakkad Division, held at Town Hall in the city, Mr. Acharia, a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said: The funds of the Railways have been exhausted. This is because under former Railway Minister Mamatha Bannerjee Rs. 4,000 crore has been spent on various committees that served no purpose. Committees like heritage, culture, public amenities were filled with people whom she favoured. She also announced a series of Projects in West Bengal, some of the unnecessary, before the West Bengal elections to boost her chances of getting elected. Advertisements in newspapers and other media for these projects came out of Railways fund.
He alleged that while Ms. Bannerjee and other previous Railway Ministers had money to spend on their constituency and publicity, they had no money to offer to under-paid staff in the Department.
The crisis, Mr. Acharia said, started by privatising ancillary functions of the Railways, which was a direct result of the liberation policies started in the 1990s. Instead of strengthening the Railways production units, the Ministry is now handing out everything under Private-Public Partnership, leaving only the role of delivering passengers and goods to the Railways, Mr. Acharia said.
He added that privatisation and outsourcing had lead to many vacancies arising, and with the Ministry having no money to start recruitments, the efficiency of the Department was affecting. This in turn affects the safety of the passengers travelling by train, he said.
Apart from asking the Central Government to increase the budgetary support to the Railways, Mr. Acharia also called for an end to anti-labour liberalisation policies. This is where Unions like DREU become important, as they stand for workers rights, he said.
The conference, which was attended by around 200 members, represented more than 7,150 employees of Palakkad division. Mathew Syriac P., Divisional Secretary, DREU Palakkad, said the one-day conference would address the issues facing workers, their solutions and means to strengthen the Union.
Rally
After the seminar, the DREU members carried out a protest rally between Town Hall and Mangalore Central Railway Station. While the prime demand was the filling up of over 2.8 lakh vacancies in the Indian Railways, other demands included implantation of eight hour shifts instead of the 12 hour shifts for staff currently, the upradation of the Mangalore Central Station and Mangalore Junction Station, said Mr. Syriac.
The Hindu : Cities / Mangalore : Politicisation of Railways has lead to its downfall: MP
AIDS awareness campaign train wheels into Angul railway station
Angul: The Red Ribbon Express (RRE) chugged into Angul on Monday for a two-day halt and received a warm welcome from the people and the administration here.
Students went round the coaches of the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign train of the Indian Railways and showed keenness to learn about various aspects, prevention and treatment of the disease. Youths from the district, besides NGO activists, various government employees, members of self-help groups, also visited the train.
Sasmita Sahoo, a student of Nehru Centenary Central Hospital, Talcher, said, "I had heard about the Red Ribbon Express but I had never seen it earlier. I am lucky I got a chance to see the RRE and was able to learn the about reasons behind HIV/AIDS and about precautionary measures to keep the disease at bay."
Angul has the second highest number of AIDS patients and mortality rate due to the dreaded disease in the state. Altogether 96 persons have died and 826 persons have tested AIDS positive in the district so far.
Dr Bichhanda Chandra Pradhan, chief district medical officer was hopeful the RRE will have a positive impact on the people of the district. On the occasion of the special train reaching Angul, a meeting was held at Angul railway station to discuss the AIDS situation in the district. The meet was attended by Dhenkanal MP Tathagata Satapathy, district collector Siba Prsada Mishra, sub-collector Sudarshana Parida, chief district medical officer Bichhanda Chandra Pradhan and other state government officials.
Dr Daman Ahuja, chief executive of RRE told TNN: "The RRE has six coaches and was flagged off in New Delhi as part of its campaign against the HIV/AIDS. The RRE has covered a total of 78 railway stations in 10 states till now in the country." He said a total of 30 lakh people have visited the train and were appraised of the disease and its remedy. The train is travelling through 23 states with an objective of creating awareness about HIV/AIDS and other communicable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, he said.
The coaches display information about bio-medical aspects of HIV/AIDS, including interactive touch screens, educational material with focus on stigma and discrimination free communities, information on general health and communicable diseases.
The first coach of the train is reserved for educating visitors on HIV/AIDS and to disseminate information about preventive measures. The second coach offers treatment facilities while the third one is for sensitizing youth about the disease. The fourth coach is dedicated to information about general diseases like tuberculosis and malaria and the fifth coach provides training to health workers. In the sixth coach there are facilities to provide treatment and counseling of patients and relatives.
Ahuja said RRE's target is to create awareness about the disease especially among the youth and women as one-third of the HIV/AIDS patients are from this demographic section. A total of 23 lakh people are found to be carrying the virus in the country at present, he pointed out.
Reforming the rail
My 8-year-old son compels us to undertake any one leg of our vacation journey by train. Like Pranab Kumar Mukerjee, our-soon-to-be President, I too love rail travel and happily comply with my son's entreaties. We travelled I Class from Bangalore to Delhi. First class fares of the railways are comparable to air travel fares- the down side? One spends 33 hours longer!
Enroute I took a good look at myself- unshaven, unkempt and disheveled after a day on the train. My five year old daughter resolutely stated that she would visit the toilet only at Delhi, since the one on the train was ****** and unusable. The children sat gazing outside the window since there wasn't much that one could do on the train anyway.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, quoting Keynes has spoken about unleashing 'animal spirits' to get the economy going. John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of all times has an entire school of modern thought which bears his name. Many of his ideas were revolutionary; almost all were controversial. Keynesian economics serves as a sort of yardstick that can define virtually all economists who came after him. Animal Spirits is a term used by the John Maynard Keynes in one of his economics books, a 1936 publication, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money," the term "animal spirits" is used by him to describe human emotion that drives consumer confidence. Keynes had said "Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits-a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities."
While nations like Japan, China, Switzerland and Germany boast the best railway systems in the world, the Indian Railways have a long way to catch up. In order to do so, the Indian Railways badly require the infusion of some animal spirits. If there was reform to carry out, it ought to begin with the Rajdhani, the premium train that showcases the Indian Railways. The present model is atleast 30 years behind its class and requires being re-built. The new train must have a large luggage compartment, with neatly divided sections where luggage can be neatly arranged. The passenger section must be minimalistic with comfortable seats which can be turned into beds. A central section with all toilets, and towards one end which must house an ayurvedic wellness spa and towards the other extreme end a reading room, internet facilities and a games centre. Its 36 hour journey deserves to be cut down to a more acceptable 24 hours.
Any service contractor will tell you that if all facilities were in the same location, the services are far better with a lot lesser personnel to man them. This applies squarely to the condition of toilets on Indian trains- if they were all together, the cleaner would do all of them well rather than attend to one and then to another a block away. This accounts for cleaner toilet blocks in large offices and airports. The first gripe of the Indian passenger against the Indian Railways can be solved in this manner.
The next is the one about the management of luggage- some carry a burden too large that neighbours have to lump it. In the absence of any working mechanism where passengers who carry excess load are charged for it, other passengers have to bear the brunt of it, unless the Railways decides to have a system of checking in the luggage, securing them and releasing them after the journey, like the airlines do. The passenger thus arrives at his seat only with his hand baggage that contain his essentials.
With clean toilets and bathing facilities- and plenty of time on hand, yoga lessons, medicinal massages, spa treatment, steam baths and the like, passenger wellness occupies centre stage. The rocking movements of the train will do wonders to relax the soul and mind. In the evening before one turns in, a hot towel to freshen up for dinner and for nightly rest.
It is pathetic to see coolies at railway stations, who in this state of advancement still carry extremely heavy weights on their heads. This indubitably damages their physical health and demeans the human spirit. The railways are blessed with large tracts of land, each station must be made trolley friendly and must, besides stairs make space for ramps that enable wheelchairs and trolleys to be moved around freely. Each railway station in a major city has been built over thirty years ago- they must be modified to help human beings earn their livelihood with dignity.
Railway stations are melting pots of humanity, passengers travel the length and breadth of India, each station must have restaurants of various cuisines. The Indian Railways have remained cost-effective, unlike their western counterparts where the cost of rail journey can be more expensive than air fares. Some additional measures like those suggested will help the Railways garner resources to maintain their cost-effective edge.
Squalor and ***** around stations abound, the proliferation of these undesirable elements must be dealt with compassionately. If proper training is provided to persons who live around these stations, they can be a valuable human resource for the massive changes that the railways require. While being absorbed into the system, their lot improves. The Indian Railways is the world's fourth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees- a change in bench mark sets the trend for a changed economic perspective that will see these 1.4 Million employees and their families being harbingers of change.
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 and by 1947, there were as many as forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the Indian Railway systems were nationalized as one unit- the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It owns locomotive and coach production facilities. An ambitious Indian railways project proposes to build the highest railway track in the world overtaking the current record of the Beijing-Lhasa Railway line.
The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1849, a British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways. The Allahabad-Jubbulpore branch line of the East Indian Railway was opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km. It therefore became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and served as inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book 'Around the World in Eighty Day.
IBNLive : Brijesh Kalappa's Blog : Reforming the rail
Petition wants more ticketing clerks at suburban railway stations
from vshob at 16:00, Jul 03, 2012
FThere is a lot to be done. Start with accountability. A manager to be assigned for a train or a few trains, the person must be accountable for cleanliness, maintenance etc. Passengers must be able to file complaints, online or as written, and there should be metric to track it to closure. Let us try small things first. Innovative implementable ideas are needed to keep toilets clean.
from vshob at 14:10, Jul 03, 2012
FThere is a lot to be done. Start with accountability. A manager to be assigned for a train or a few trains, the person must be accountable for cleanliness, maintenance etc. Passengers must be able to file complaints, online or as written, and there should be metric to track it to closure. Let us try small things first. Innovative implementable ideas are needed to keep toilets clean.
from Sanjai Pathak at 13:02, Jul 03, 2012
Reformation of railways is indeed urgent but dear Brijesh! you have to be realistic, when you do not have a clean toilet in AC 1st class despite a provision for full time attendants and staff than thinking about a yoga room and spa on railway tracks sounds like only a fairy tale. Have a macro look at railways and the people who are dependent on this mode of travel, you will agree that rails do not have enough seating capacity for existing number of passengers, then how can one even think about the top end luxuries as suggested by you. My dear, I expect my friend to be a visionary in relistic terms, otherwise your thughts would find complete resonance with the elitist planning commision which sets up a monetary need foronly "animal like existence for poor people" but builds its own toilet with lacs of rupees with smart card access. I wonder if that is the 'animal spirit'.
from Abhijit Ray at 18:02, Jul 02, 2012
First let Indian railways need to sort out the toilets. These are dirty, unusable and unhygineic. Besides, excreta still fall on the tracks, many a times when used in a stationary train and make the whole ambience ******. Railway should ensure vacuum suction of human waste like they do in planes or even in luxury buses. It will be good if railways can ensure luggages are packed and checked in like plane. This way a passenger will reach his coach with bare essentials. i shall be happy if railways can address these two issues in next 10 years. I shall think of bullet trains later. To do any modernisation, railways need money. However, our honorable minister, now and earlier, lack any vision for the organisation other than a vote catching machine. So they wil not use any reform measure. So our dream of a clean, efficient and user friendly railways end there.
from Rolf Kopter at 13:15, Jul 02, 2012
Mr. Kalappa, you are really restricted in imagination. Such articles aren't going to do anything for reform of Indian Raliways. You have to start with smaller grievances - outside the train - that make the trip a suffering.
Reforming the rail
My 8-year-old son compels us to undertake any one leg of our vacation journey by train. Like Pranab Kumar Mukerjee, our-soon-to-be President, I too love rail travel and happily comply with my son's entreaties. We travelled I Class from Bangalore to Delhi. First class fares of the railways are comparable to air travel fares- the down side? One spends 33 hours longer!
Enroute I took a good look at myself- unshaven, unkempt and disheveled after a day on the train. My five year old daughter resolutely stated that she would visit the toilet only at Delhi, since the one on the train was ****** and unusable. The children sat gazing outside the window since there wasn't much that one could do on the train anyway.
Dr. Manmohan Singh, quoting Keynes has spoken about unleashing 'animal spirits' to get the economy going. John Maynard Keynes, the most influential economist of all times has an entire school of modern thought which bears his name. Many of his ideas were revolutionary; almost all were controversial. Keynesian economics serves as a sort of yardstick that can define virtually all economists who came after him. Animal Spirits is a term used by the John Maynard Keynes in one of his economics books, a 1936 publication, "The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money," the term "animal spirits" is used by him to describe human emotion that drives consumer confidence. Keynes had said "Most, probably, of our decisions to do something positive, the full consequences of which will be drawn out over many days to come, can only be taken as the result of animal spirits-a spontaneous urge to action rather than inaction, and not as the outcome of a weighted average of quantitative benefits multiplied by quantitative probabilities."
While nations like Japan, China, Switzerland and Germany boast the best railway systems in the world, the Indian Railways have a long way to catch up. In order to do so, the Indian Railways badly require the infusion of some animal spirits. If there was reform to carry out, it ought to begin with the Rajdhani, the premium train that showcases the Indian Railways. The present model is atleast 30 years behind its class and requires being re-built. The new train must have a large luggage compartment, with neatly divided sections where luggage can be neatly arranged. The passenger section must be minimalistic with comfortable seats which can be turned into beds. A central section with all toilets, and towards one end which must house an ayurvedic wellness spa and towards the other extreme end a reading room, internet facilities and a games centre. Its 36 hour journey deserves to be cut down to a more acceptable 24 hours.
Any service contractor will tell you that if all facilities were in the same location, the services are far better with a lot lesser personnel to man them. This applies squarely to the condition of toilets on Indian trains- if they were all together, the cleaner would do all of them well rather than attend to one and then to another a block away. This accounts for cleaner toilet blocks in large offices and airports. The first gripe of the Indian passenger against the Indian Railways can be solved in this manner.
The next is the one about the management of luggage- some carry a burden too large that neighbours have to lump it. In the absence of any working mechanism where passengers who carry excess load are charged for it, other passengers have to bear the brunt of it, unless the Railways decides to have a system of checking in the luggage, securing them and releasing them after the journey, like the airlines do. The passenger thus arrives at his seat only with his hand baggage that contain his essentials.
With clean toilets and bathing facilities- and plenty of time on hand, yoga lessons, medicinal massages, spa treatment, steam baths and the like, passenger wellness occupies centre stage. The rocking movements of the train will do wonders to relax the soul and mind. In the evening before one turns in, a hot towel to freshen up for dinner and for nightly rest.
It is pathetic to see coolies at railway stations, who in this state of advancement still carry extremely heavy weights on their heads. This indubitably damages their physical health and demeans the human spirit. The railways are blessed with large tracts of land, each station must be made trolley friendly and must, besides stairs make space for ramps that enable wheelchairs and trolleys to be moved around freely. Each railway station in a major city has been built over thirty years ago- they must be modified to help human beings earn their livelihood with dignity.
Railway stations are melting pots of humanity, passengers travel the length and breadth of India, each station must have restaurants of various cuisines. The Indian Railways have remained cost-effective, unlike their western counterparts where the cost of rail journey can be more expensive than air fares. Some additional measures like those suggested will help the Railways garner resources to maintain their cost-effective edge.
Squalor and ***** around stations abound, the proliferation of these undesirable elements must be dealt with compassionately. If proper training is provided to persons who live around these stations, they can be a valuable human resource for the massive changes that the railways require. While being absorbed into the system, their lot improves. The Indian Railways is the world's fourth largest commercial or utility employer, by number of employees, with over 1.4 million employees- a change in bench mark sets the trend for a changed economic perspective that will see these 1.4 Million employees and their families being harbingers of change.
Railways were first introduced to India in 1853 and by 1947, there were as many as forty-two rail systems. In 1951 the Indian Railway systems were nationalized as one unit- the Indian Railways, becoming one of the largest networks in the world. IR operates both long distance and suburban rail systems on a multi-gauge network of broad, metre and narrow gauges. It owns locomotive and coach production facilities. An ambitious Indian railways project proposes to build the highest railway track in the world overtaking the current record of the Beijing-Lhasa Railway line.
The history of rail transport in India began in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1849, a British engineer, Robert Maitland Brereton, was responsible for the expansion of the railways. The Allahabad-Jubbulpore branch line of the East Indian Railway was opened in June 1867. Brereton was responsible for linking this with the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, resulting in a combined network of 6,400 km. It therefore became possible to travel directly from Bombay to Calcutta. This route was officially opened on 7 March 1870 and served as inspiration for French writer Jules Verne's book 'Around the World in Eighty Day.
IBNLive : Brijesh Kalappa's Blog : Reforming the rail
Petition wants more ticketing clerks at suburban railway stations
from vshob at 16:00, Jul 03, 2012
FThere is a lot to be done. Start with accountability. A manager to be assigned for a train or a few trains, the person must be accountable for cleanliness, maintenance etc. Passengers must be able to file complaints, online or as written, and there should be metric to track it to closure. Let us try small things first. Innovative implementable ideas are needed to keep toilets clean.
from vshob at 14:10, Jul 03, 2012
FThere is a lot to be done. Start with accountability. A manager to be assigned for a train or a few trains, the person must be accountable for cleanliness, maintenance etc. Passengers must be able to file complaints, online or as written, and there should be metric to track it to closure. Let us try small things first. Innovative implementable ideas are needed to keep toilets clean.
from Sanjai Pathak at 13:02, Jul 03, 2012
Reformation of railways is indeed urgent but dear Brijesh! you have to be realistic, when you do not have a clean toilet in AC 1st class despite a provision for full time attendants and staff than thinking about a yoga room and spa on railway tracks sounds like only a fairy tale. Have a macro look at railways and the people who are dependent on this mode of travel, you will agree that rails do not have enough seating capacity for existing number of passengers, then how can one even think about the top end luxuries as suggested by you. My dear, I expect my friend to be a visionary in relistic terms, otherwise your thughts would find complete resonance with the elitist planning commision which sets up a monetary need foronly "animal like existence for poor people" but builds its own toilet with lacs of rupees with smart card access. I wonder if that is the 'animal spirit'.
from Abhijit Ray at 18:02, Jul 02, 2012
First let Indian railways need to sort out the toilets. These are dirty, unusable and unhygineic. Besides, excreta still fall on the tracks, many a times when used in a stationary train and make the whole ambience ******. Railway should ensure vacuum suction of human waste like they do in planes or even in luxury buses. It will be good if railways can ensure luggages are packed and checked in like plane. This way a passenger will reach his coach with bare essentials. i shall be happy if railways can address these two issues in next 10 years. I shall think of bullet trains later. To do any modernisation, railways need money. However, our honorable minister, now and earlier, lack any vision for the organisation other than a vote catching machine. So they wil not use any reform measure. So our dream of a clean, efficient and user friendly railways end there.
from Rolf Kopter at 13:15, Jul 02, 2012
Mr. Kalappa, you are really restricted in imagination. Such articles aren't going to do anything for reform of Indian Raliways. You have to start with smaller grievances - outside the train - that make the trip a suffering.
Petition wants more ticketing clerks at suburban railway stations
CHENNAI: Highlighting the issue of serpentine queues of commuters waiting for tickets in suburban railway stations in Chennai and the severe shortage of ticketing clerks in booking offices, a public interest writ petition in the Madras high court has sought urgent steps to set right the problem.
The PIL wanted the court to direct the railway administration to take urgent steps to fill up the vacancies and deploy enough ticketing personnel in suburban railway stations in the city.
The first bench of the court, comprising Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam, before which the PIL filed by advocate S Sathya Chandran came up for admission on Monday, has asked the advocate to serve copies on the railway ministry, railway board and the general manager and chief commercial manager of Southern Railway.
In his petition, Sathya Chandran contended that the already busy suburban railway network in Chennai registered a spurt in passenger traffic after the state government hiked the bus fares on November 17, 2011. In Tambaram alone, against the sale of 7.12 lakh tickets in November 2010, a total of 7.5 lakh tickets were sold in November 2011. The number rose to 8.37 lakh in December last. In January this year, the number went up to 8.71 lakh, the PIL said.
The increase in demand for tickets has resulted in people queuing up in front of ticket counters braving the hot sun, it said, adding that only one counter worked in suburban stations, except in places like Egmore, Chennai Beach and Mambalam.
Most of the automated ticket vending machines (ATVMs) at big stations were not in working condition and even those with smart cards were unable to use them, it said.
Citing media reports, it said that though 136 new clerical posts had been sanctioned for these stations, the posts were still vacant.
Petition wants more ticketing clerks at suburban railway stations - Times Of India
Railway tribunal grants two Pak Samjhauta victims compensation
Anita Singh, TNN Jul 6, 2012, 01.09AM IST
Tags:
Chandigarh Railway Claim Tribunal|
2007 Samjhauta train blast
PANIPAT: A Chandigarh Railway Claim Tribunal has granted compensation to the families of two Pakistani nationals, who had died in the 2007 Samjhauta train blast.
Their lawyer, Momin Malik, said this was for the first time that the tribunal has ordered compensation through the Indian high commission.
The orders were passed on April 18 and sent to the victim families. Malik said that still 30 compensation cases belonging to Pakistani and Indian civilians are pending before the tribunal.
The compensation of Rs 4 lakh each has been awarded to Zubeda Begum and Zahida Begum, both residents of North Karachi in Pakistan, he said.
Sixty-eight people, mostly Pakistani civilians, were killed in the blast.
Following the blast, Zubeda and Zahida along with their kin had arrived in India and after identifying their husbands, Wahid Khan and Salim Khan, took their bodies to Pakistan.
After the Union government announced compensations for the victims of the blasts, the two got in touch with Panipat lawyer Malik and filed a petition with the Railway Claim Tribunal on July 27, 2010.
The tribunal awarded the compensation along with a 6% interest per annum from the date of filing of the claim application.
The tribunal asked the ministry of railways to arrange for the payment of the compensation to the two women through Indian High Commission in Islamabad as no Pakistani national is allowed to open a bank account in the country without prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India.
Railway tribunal grants two Pak Samjhauta victims compensation - Times Of India
Railways to act strongly against ticket touts
New Delhi, July 3, 2012, DHNS:
The Railways on Tuesday decided to further streamline the Tatkal scheme, with a view to keep touts and black marketeers out of the system.
Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa, who presided over a high-level meeting of department officials, ordered officials to act immediately after recent hikes in airfare has increased demand for rail tickets. Officials at the meeting, convened to review the steps taken to streamline the scheme, decided to take stern action against those promoting or helping others in selling tickets in black market.
Around 15 lakh Railway tickets are being sold through 8838 passenger reservation ticket counters and the e-ticketing website through IRCTC, out of which Tatkal tickets constitute around 1.70 lakh.
The minister said Railways has taken a series of short and long term steps to increase online ticket reservation, as a result of which the capacity of its website would increase from the current 3.5 lakh to five lakh bookings in four months time and would touch eight lakh in the long run. Both IRCTC and CRIS are working in the enhancement efforts, he said.
Member Traffic, Railway Board, Managing Director, IRCTC, Additional Member (Commercial) and other senior officers attended the meeting.
Railways to act strongly against ticket touts
