Scams, change of guard at the top derail plans of railways
NEW DELHI: The frequent changes at the top and the recent cash-for-appointment scam are taking a severe hit on the railways' finances and operations.
The national transporter, whose growth is crucial to push the country's economy to a higher trajectory, saw six ministers at the helm of affairs in the past four years. The frequent change of guard at the top has created a sense of uncertainty, throwing a spanner to planning and procurement process.
"The decision-making has slowed down after the scam hit railways," said an official.
Former railway minister Pawan Kumar Bansal — prior to his ouster due to the "cash-for-promotion" scam — was pushing bold and reformist agenda, including hike in passenger fare after a gap of 10 years.
The bribery scam, which came as a surprise for rail officials, has derailed several key decisions.
Though highway minister C P Joshi was given the additional charge of railways after Bansal's exit, an official admitted that the decision-making has slowed down due to a sense of uncertainty as another round of Cabinet reshuffle is in the offing.
The ambitious proposals like setting up of rail tariff regulatory authority to rationalize fares, bidding of multi-crore locomotive plants at Madhepura and Marhora in Bihar, elevated rail corridor project in Mumbai for which the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) came out with timeframe for completion, may all get delayed, an official said.
The long-pending plans to restructure railways, which got a push after China decided to restructure its national transporter along commercial lines, may again be relegated to the backburner.
Majority of the railway officials are in favour of restructuring — separate services with social obligation — to improve services.
The recent recommendations of the Sam Pitroda committee and the Anil Kakodkar committee have called for the restructuring of railways from different perspectives, but the rail officials aren't hopeful because of the prevailing uncertainty.
Also, the present system of organising railways along departmental lines - electrical, mechanical, traffic, engineering, finance - isn't fit for customer-oriented service.
But the restructuring of railways, which is the largest employer with 14 lakh employees, requires a strong political will.
Rail officials are worried as the uncertainty may hit the state-run transporter's investments plan targets and other goals set for 12th Five Year Plan. Railways is lagging behind targets for capacity creation and physical output. The procurement process has also slowed down.
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