Railway revamp

A major restructuring of the Railway Board, the apex decision-making body of the national transporter, was long overdue. The hidebound culture of sloth in the age-old entity was turning a potential cash cow into a white elephant. Several committees set up over the past 25 years had recommended a revamp, including the Prakash Tandon Committee (1994), Rakesh Mohan Committee (2001), Sam Pitroda Committee (2012) and Bibek Debroy Committee (2015). Finally, the government has approved the downsizing of the board, which will have four members instead of eight, besides a CEO-like chairman, and the merger of its cadres and departments into a single entity.

The decision, aimed at ending departmentalism and improving efficiency, comes weeks after a report tabled in Parliament by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) red-flagged the alarming financial situation of the Railways. The latter had recorded the worst operating ratio in a decade in 2017-18, spending as much as Rs 98.44 to earn Rs 100. The Railways’ net revenue surplus had also fallen from Rs 4,913 crore in 2016-17 to Rs 1,665.61 crore in 2017-18. The desperate situation called for desperate measures, and the government has taken a bold step that is likely to face resistance, covert or overt, from the railway bureaucracy. It will be a challenge for the powers that be to walk the talk on implementing the new criterion for promotions — performance rather than seniority.

The leaner board would have its work cut out. A road map is needed to boost the generation of resources that can reduce the Railways’dependence on the government for meeting its capital expenditure. There must be no compromise on meeting project deadlines, making optimum use of assets and improving services for passengers. The next logical move should be to establish the long-awaited railway regulatory authority, recommended by the Bibek Debroy and Rakesh Mohan panels, that can work independently to monitor the board’s operations and suggest course correction, wherever required. The purpose of the restructuring would be defeated if the behemoth eventually relapses into its old, lethargic ways.