Perform or perish,” that was the stern message from Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda to top officials of railways. He sought a comprehensive change in the system as he pointed out the Indian Railways stands much behind in efficiency, punctuality, cleanliness and services.
People want immediate changes and it should be visible, he made it clear.
“Indian Railways carries the largest number of passengers and freight, but we stand much behind in our efficiency, punctuality, cleanliness and services. You all need to be innovative and find solutions to these issues. Conventional thinking and present style of functioning will not help us achieve anything,” Gowda said at a conference of General Managers and Divisional Railway Managers.
Talking about passengers amenities, the Railway Minister questioned why the trains and stations were not kept clean and tidy despite every passenger wanting it. On delay of trains, Gowda asked the officials that when there is a time schedule for every train then why can’t they stick to it. “When most railways across the world run their trains on time. why not weIJ” Gowda asked the officials.
Gowda said he is being flooded with complaints against railway services whether it was food or cleanliness or the issue of ticket reservation. Stating that the food served was not up to the expectations of passengers, he said there is an urgent need to improve quality of food being served on rail premises. “We need to understand that passengers do not have choice but to eat what we provide which is below par,” he said.
Without mincing words, Gowda made it clear that the present Government’s mantra is performance and people want immediate results. “Though we plan for five years, we need to start producing results as soon as possible. Our Government’s mantra is either perform or perish. This is applicable from the last employee of Railway up to the Board. People want immediate and visible changes in the performance of the Railways. We have promised people and it’s time for us to stand up to their expectations,” Gowda said.
Referring to high-speed train as one of his priorities, Gowda said steps should be taken for introducing bullet trains in the country and average train speed should increase to 150-200 km per hour. He said that railways should be more competitive than the road sector and also made a comparison with Chinese Railways which is “four times more efficient than ours both in terms of number of passengers carried per employee and freight carried per employee”.