Striving to bring about an overall turnaround within the 164-year-old organisation, the Indian Railways now wants to function the corporate way. And towards that end, it not only wants all its officials and staff at the headquarters at Rail Bhawan to be ‘presentable’ but also develop a corporate culture.
In the latest bid towards a Kayakalp, the Railway Ministry on Friday issued directives that all rail officials and staff should report to their work smartly and neatly dressed.
The missive stressing for the corporate culture comes even as the Ministry has effected certain changes in the human resources management of the organisation. Sources said the directive for smart and neat dressing is in view of the fact that the Rail Bhawan has been witnessing a surge in the number of foreign dignitaries visiting the headquarters with regard to certain projects. The Ministry's emphasis on developing a corporate culture is to be competitive and to keep pace with competition.
A senior railway official said that the missive for “smart attires” is being seen as a measure of “bringing about togetherness and belonging in the Rail Bhawan”.
The directive also said that all the officers and staff of the organisation have to wear a badge or a monogram with the Indian Railways logo inscribed on it. “It will be part of the efforts to bring about improvement in Rail Bhawan and will also help in bringing overall efficiency,” the directive on behalf of the Chairman Railway Board, Ashwani lohani maintained.
The Railways is already working on a project to dress up its staff which deals directly with the passengers. And it has roped in leading fashion designer Ritu Beri for
designing the uniforms for such employees.
Very soon, the ground staff will adorn designer uniforms complete with fluorescent jackets and black and yellow T-shirts. There are about five lakh railway employees comprising on-board staff, TTEs, station masters, guards, drivers and catering personnel. Another set of T-shirts in white with black border has been created for the catering staff deployed in the trains.
Not very long ago, lohani in a letter to employees stressed the need to resolve in bringing about an all-round improvement in the working of the Indian Railways so that all hopes are met satisfactorily in the wake of high expectations and aspirations from the country.
Referring to the committed workforce of Indian Railways, lohani said that the sincerity, dedication and professional capability of the railway employees, both officers and staff, is indeed unparalleled.
Against the backdrop of a series of rail accidents following which lohani took over as the CRB, he stressed the need for ‘employees first' to boost the sagging morale of the transporter's workforce and threw open his doors even for lower staff like gangmen to walk into his chamber to discuss the problems or issues pertaining to the development of railways and well being of the workforce.