My wish list for the Railway Budget.

Being wise, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, did not announce any new train   or project or new line last year because he knew he had no money . No extra money has flowed in now although plans are afoot.  He has to be wise this year too.. Then Railways would survive.     .

Mr.Sadananda Gowda  did some plain speaking in his Railway Budget speech in 2014.   He said that out of 676 projects in  30 years, only 327 had been completed and after spending the original estimate Rs.1,57,883 crores, now Railway Bureaucracy needed Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete the rest and  only one out of 99  New lines sanctioned in the last ten years had been completed.  Our Parliament meekly accepted such gross inefficiency.   .  

 . Rs.8.56 lakh crores are needed to modernise in the next five years including Rs.1.27 lakh crores for safety (  p169 Bibek Debroy Report ) and nearly Rs.4.91 lakh crores are needed to execute  the pending projects.  ( p136. BDR) There have been 23 committees so far to reform Railways. The  self-preserving Railway Bureaucracy has ignored most of the recommendations of the 22  earlier committees. Of the Anil Kakodkar committee’s 106 recommendations on safety (2012) 70 were discussed and 36 yet to be discussed  including  the creation of Railway Safety Authority.  The list of accepted but unimplemented recommendations is long..  Accounting reforms suggested  in 1985 are yet to take off.P128 BDR)  .   Mr.Prabhu must stand firm and allot sufficient funds to implement  Debroy report  in full.   

. This Bullet train can wait for another decade as it means taking a Japanese loan for Rs.90, 000 crore besides our money Rs.10,000 crores.  

 ,  If FDI is to come, zonal Railways must be corporatized. . The PPP did not  progress since the Railway  Bureaucracy    would  ensure it failure. Look at their power!  Although 1973 Pay Commission asked them to abolish Bungalow peons, they still retain 1126   peons. A corporate Board  at best may have  40-60- personnel to assist the Board. The Railways have 1107 persons   working in the Board secretariat.  Railway Board was not worried  that operating ratio  was over 90% from 1980-2005,  .

It made 17  Zones out of  9  Zones  to have   that many GMs, DGM(g)s,  DGMs,  AGMs, .  CCMs more and  so many thousands more   including 40 more DRMS. Debroy committee records the efficiency did not increase even by one percent because of this creation of new Zones. The operating ratio was at 75.94 % in 2007-08  . The Railways must get back to this figure from the current unacceptable 91%.    

The Unions are going to strike. Goats never liked Bakhrit.. Reforms will be stoutly opposed. Mr. Prabhu must gear  up   to manage the strike. The staff must be reduced at least by10%.this year as the staff cost remains at unconscionable 51% of revenue.  Surgery is needed. .On the night of  16^th November, 1980, the entire Railway Board was sacked and M.S. Gujral was appointed Chairman and Mrs.Gandhi signed the order at 2.00 am .  Later, he sacked 900  Railwaymen on  single day. If the zones are constricted to   5 again, the savings will help. In order to raise the Rs.8 lakh crores, he must sell lock, stock and barrel Railway Quarters, hospitals,   schools and the lands surrounding them. They have outlived their purpose of creation. Non-core pet projects like nursing College, Medical College and Railway University   must be immediately dumped to save money.   .

Profit can be made either by enhancing the revenue or by reducing the cost. There is already a drop in passengers’ revenue. Before any fare hike is attempted, this must be borne in my mind. Any more increase in A/c classes will persuade the people to fly. Season tickets have still scope for increase. Fare must be fixed per km.  Prices of commodities ten years ago  and now should be compared with Railway ticket prices ten years ago and now  to convince the public. Development charges must go and rationalization of cancellation charges must be done.

  .   The cost of concessions must be borne by the respective Ministries instead of the Railways. Concession for handicapped will be borne by Welfare Ministry. This suggestion (DBR) can be implemented now. As   senior citizens occupy more berths and seats, Railways suffer erosion in income. Their concession must be limited to 20% for both genders.

Mr. Suresh Prabhu will not get encomiums but posterity will not willingly forget him.

                                                                   S..Pushpavanam 93451 01216

Secretary, Consumer Protection Council, TN. (786)

                

                                      Recurring Railway Rhetoric

The   rhetoric of the Railway Bureaucracy  (RB) would have become very  familiar to people who   follow  Railway Budgets. Since it is a mainly a  PR exercise    to create impressions and not really meant to be     executed within a time frame, it has become an interesting entertainment   Ministers may come and Ministers may go but the attitude of the  RB remains the same  forever . Hence we can expect the rhetoric this year too.

It might begin  with a paean of praise for the Prime Minister.  Then   a few sentences on what Railways have achieved with the help of ever sincere   public-service minded workers and the officials. Then something about the soul of the Railways which is claimed to be commitment to the   common man and its role in moving the economy. A few sentences on its nation integrating functions will follow.

They may even try to name this year. They may call it year of the Customer  or passenger year as they did in the nineties.  For them the passenger is not clearly the customer.

As usual, it will be declared safety is their priority .But you would never be told how many heads rolled when a train rammed into another train from behind, or when two trains caught fire or when several derailments had taken place during 2015-16  so far or in 2014-15 

  Debroy Committee  submitted  its report in June 2015. The RB  has kicked 22 earlier committee reports to their destined goal, the attics in Rail  Bhavan. Possibly, a committee will be appointed to study Debroy Committee Report and  analyse its implications. This is the usual route to the attic. Many of you must have  concluded  that this article is brimming with   prejudices  and so permit me to  quote  two passages.

This is from Shri.Sadananda Gowda’  Railway budget speech n 2014.

He  said  that out of 676 projects in  30 years, only 327  were completed. After spending the original estimate Rs.1,57,883 crores,  now RB needs Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete the rest.  Only one out of 99 Newlines sanctioned in the last ten years has been completed .

  Debroy, said in an article on Aug.4^th ,2015( ToI)   satirically ,” A new Railway Minister wants to show a healthy operating ratio? Not an issue, reduce contributions to Safety Fund  Depreciation Reserve fund  and PF. Consequences will be borne by posterity.  RB could do anything at will and on demand at  the cost of safety. “

The minister may proudly announce that operating ratio has come down.

The RB  is most inventive. If they want to hike the fare, they can think of one thousand ways of doing it without calling it fare hike.  If   any other Railways says  in the world, “if you want us to carry you from Point A to Point B in our trains, pay us this much; if you want us to  carry you safely, pay us more” it would be considered outrageous. But our Indian Railways did exactly that and got away   with their safety surcharge. Similarly, if any trader sells you   his goods for a price and collects as Develop0ment charge price +x   rupees ,  no one would pay and it would be a terrible unfair trade practice. But our Indian Railways have been collecting Development charges for years. It is quite   likely , this year they would come up with something  cleverer.   

Then we come to the desert.  I   am reminded of Tennyson’s lines,” They landed in an afternoon where it always seemed an afternoon.”(  Lotus eaters) That European afternoon was a very pleasant thing unlike ours. Similarly in Indian Railways, once they launch a pilot project, it always remained a pilot project. These are a few of my favourite   pilot projects,   safety devices like GPS guided signaling, train activated warning system, Anti-collision devices, and fool-proof signaling ,Advance warning systems,  Bio-toilets.  Dedicated Freight corridors, Dedicated passenger train corridors, Railway Safety Authority ,Rail tariff Authority and branded food in pantry cars, fire  extinguishers in every coach  will find a mention

. These are regular characters in the drama of Railway Budget.  RB will never tell you why they have not installed scoot and flash warning devices at every level crossing gate saving hundreds of crores in salaries. It is because that these appointments, manning the unmanned LCs are the play field of the politicians and union   leaders..

 Rat-eaten suit cases, unpunctual trains, unhygienic lavatories, unpushable flush knobs in the latrines, and waterless wash basins in the early mornings, unusable newspaper pouches in the chair cars, regularly recurring accidents ,, as usual will not find a mention. AS usual, the PM and ruling party will welcome the  budget, of course the opposition criticising it.

                                                            S.Pushpavanam

            consumerpc@rediffmail.com(785)

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corruption in Railways

                            Corruption in Railways

Union Minister Shri.Suresh Prabhu is very happy that he has introduced  e-tendering in Railway contracts.. When I met him on Dec ember 3^rd, he listened to my criticism and at the end  gave me a booklet on his e-tendering initiatives and  said that would   curb corruption. This article is to tell you how misled he was.

          e-tendering will make  the contracts transparent  . Overpricing to cover bribes can be detected. To that extent, yes it is welcome. But corruption in Railways has several dimensions  outside the field of tendering, which cannot be stopped unless surgical measures are resorted to.

Member –staff ( Mahesh Kumar) of the Railway Board was asked to pay Rs.10 crores (  paid advance of   Rs.90 lakhs) to get the “lucrative “ Member Electrical post.  Except Mahesh Kumar’s suspension, and CBI chargesheet, nothing happened. It is business as usual in all departments.  

In the second biggest catch Railway Traffic   official Ravi Mohan Sharma was arrested on Oct.22, 2014  while accepting Rs.5 lakh bribe  from a tour operator for getting coaches for special train on priority. When CBI reached his house for raid, his relatives flushed out in the drain Rs.10 lakhs which CBI re covered.( Oct.25^th IBN)

CBI is scanning several top officials. March13, 2014 ToI reports two  CBI enquiries on the Railway Board and  another  on  Rail Tel in giving mobile phones to employees. A multi-crore weighbridges scam  (22^nd April IE. 2015).  and. a Rs.300 crore freight scam in  Tiruchirappalli Division (  June 11^th, The Hindu,2015) are  being investigated.  While the former relates to under-reporting , the latter refers to fixing cheaper classification.   

. Central Vigilance Commission reports that in 2014 there is an 82% increase in corruption cases from 2013 and most of them were on Railways.( Aug.4^th ToI, 2015)   

            Under the dual pricing system introduced in May-July 2008, the freight rate for transporting iron ore for non-domestic consumption was more than three times the fixed rate to transport coal for domestic consumption. Without getting   prescribed documents, the consignment was classified under domestic consumption category

In a report tabled in Parliament on  Feb.12,2014 , CAG said the railways lost revenue of Rs 2,487 crore   on this account, according to its audit conducted between May 2008 and March 2012. Additional loss of Rs.1796 crores was also reported during 2011-12..

The report said about Rs 15,500 crore was to be recovered as penalty and recovery from various iron export companies.

 It said lapses had occurred at all levels, including by the booking staff at loading-unloading points and commercial and account officers at the divisional and zonal levels. The “Railway Board failed to stipulate specific checks and balances for implementing their orders”, the report said.

In January 2007, East Central Railways had purchased 219 acres of land for about Rs 140 crore   without “any clear cut decision on utilisation”, the report said.  Of this, Rs 112 crore  was raised through a loan that resulted in interest liability of Rs 8.8 crore    

The report also  said 65 per cent of overhauled locomotives reported failure within three months of periodic overhauls. Bibek Debroy famously asked the question in his report, “Why do two thirds of locomotives develop problems within 6 months   of periodic overhaul? Why do two thirds of goods trains leave late because the locomotives are not available?”  No answers. There is a corruption story behind these two.  

According to CBI spokesperson   the Railway Board had prescribed that IRCTC shall provide Rail Neer at a rate of Rs 10.50 (approx) per bottle to the private caterers and the private caterers will be paid Rs 15 (approx) per bottle for supplying the same to passengers in premium trains. But the private supplies also procured   local cheap packaged water buying them at Rs. 5.70  to Rs.7  and sold them for Rs.15. Railways lost, supplier and officials gained.

 Despite repeated requests of IRCTC, the accused public servants did not take action against the private parties." .On October 16^th, 205, CBI recovered Rs.20 crores in cash in a simultaneous raid  on 13 locations  and  the Rail Neer  scam was bust.

A road inside Tiruchirappalli junction was laid on 30-06-2012  and was  in tatters within 1 year. It is worse now.. It is a standing   testimony  to corruption by the DRMs who gave the  work order  for Rs.62  lakhs , signed the contract and satisfactory completion report.

How can e-tendering detect all these corruption ?  Mr. Prabhu must make the Railway men understand that Railways are not for Railway men and the public are  their paymasters, establish accountability at all levels, reduce the zones from 17 to 6, corporatize them,  appease unions by golden handshake, deflate the bloated bureaucracy, and above  all,   rid the Railway Board of  the Railway- employee Members.

 No Board of management in the World consists only of its employees as our Railways do.

                                                                   S.Pushpavanam consumerpc@rediffmail.com( 817)

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Misuse of Padma Awards

                                   Misuse of Padma Awards.

Pre-fixing a title to their names is peculiar to Tamilnadu and it almost defines the deep rooted desire of the people to glorify themselves.   This desire   cuts across caste lines, political affiliations and the economic divide.   The trend perhaps started with the filmdom where anyone can give a title to anyone. But National Awards are on a different footing.

National Awards were formally instituted in January  1954  to recognize the services of those who made a valuable contribution to the Nation. They were thus defined:

Bharat Ratna: For exceptional service   towards the advancement of art, literature and science  and in recognition of the public service of the highest order

Padma Vibhushan: For exceptional and distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Govt. services.

Padma Bhushan: For distinguished service of a high order in any field including the service rendered by Govt. servant.

Padma Shree: For distinguished service in any field including service rendered by Govt. servants. ( SC judgement on Dec.15^th, 1995 –Justice A. M .Ahmadi )

 The criteria are not clear. Bharat Ratna is for exceptional service and Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service. Should it not be   the other way about ?

Even during the constitutional debate,   J.B.Kriplani’s suggestion that  the Awardees   found  committing “commercial offences” be deprived of their awards.    was not accepted.   . So we have many Padma awardees   raided by Income-Tax. These   things rob the awards their decorum.  Similarly musicians  charging in lakhs  for a concert are   creating wealth for themselves. Where is the service here? Persons who are engaged in enriching themselves    should not be awarded for that particular activity. It has to be beyond the call of duty. Rigorous scrutiny is needed while choosing   film stars,   if at  all they must be chosen. For instance, an   actress ,  a 2016 awardee  has said she does not need a man in her life. She said “Men must not be needed but wanted.”   Another actress awardee , when questioned about her“ revelations”  said she was  proud to display her assets because she had those assets .

  That the Padma Award is only an award and not a title does not dawn on many who don it and flaunt it as a title.    But in Tamilnadu, not merely  the  film stars but eminent  industrialists, top  musicians, educationists,  have no qualms about pre-fixing  it to their names as if it is a title.  Their letter-heads, visiting cards and announcements of their programmers mark it loudly..  Satyajit Roy, Abdul kalam,   Nandan Nilekani   , Anil Kakkodkar, E.Sridharn, or Narayana  Murthy  and many others   never pre-fixed their awards to their names as titles nor did they carry any other title.

The Home Ministry  replying to my RTI query clarified that “ the National Awards  do not amount to “titles “ within the meaning of Article 18 (1) of the Constitution and they should not be used as suffixes or prefixes. If this is done, the defaulter should forfeit the National Award ….”      It has cited a Supreme Court judgment delivered on Dec.15^th, 1995 by a Bench led by Justice A. M. Ahmadi CJI  

 . A press note issued by the Government of India in 1968 warned the Awardees that the awards should not be used as titles on letter heads, invitation cards, posters books etc., and warned of forfeiture if misused.  A complaint to the Home ministry with proof will result in forfeiture.

 Andhra Pradesh High Court asked producers Mohan Babu and Brahmananda to surrender their awards when a case was filed against their misuse of the awards. In the appeal, Supreme Court ( April 12, 2014 The Hindu) asked them to give an undertaking not to misuse . 

    The Supreme Court ( 1995) also recorded  that Conferment of Padma awards without any firm guidelines and fool-proof method of selection was  bound to breed nepotism, favoritism, patronage and even corruption.  Asha Parek  climbing 12 floors to meet  Union Minister Gadhkari  says it all. The Supreme Court recommended an extremely high standard and the limitation of awards to a fixed number in each category.  This Government must restore its value and dignity by making suitable changes in the criteria.    

    S.Pushpavanam, Free lance journalist, consumerpc@rediffmail.com(700)