In yet another endeavour to boost railway infrastructure, the first meeting of the innovative railway council ‘Kayakalp’, formed by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, on Wednesday, decided to take on board all the stakeholders. The Council is headed by industrialist Ratan Tata, who in his first address at the meeting said the innovative body would work in close cooperation with everybody concerned.
“All of us will be on the same page for the betterment of Indian Railways and it would not be in conflict with anybody as there is a shared objective of making Railways better. It will be useful to showcase improvements even in small increments in various aspects like equipments, processes, procedures, consumer acceptance etc,” Tata said in the meeting held at Rail Bhawan which was also attended by Prabhu.
This council has been setup by the Railway Ministry in accordance with the vision of the PM for innovation, technology, development and manufacturing in the huge organisation. Speaking on the occasion, Prabhu said that Indian Railways, on one hand, has to fulfill its social obligation of providing affordable travel facilities to the public in different parts of the country while on the other, has to work as a commercial organisation earning profit.
“It is necessary to formulate a future roadmap for expansion and growth of Indian Railways, but at the same time it is necessary to understand and address present challenges which could not be overlooked,” Prabhu said in his address. Minister of State Manoj Kumar Sinha, Railway Board Chairman AK Mital and all members of the Council were present on the occasion. Other members of Kayakalp council are All India Railwaymen’s Federation general secretary SC Mishra, National Federation of Indian Railwaymen general secretary M Raghaviah, Railway Board Executive Director Ragini Yechury, executive director Railway Board Madhukar Sinha.