Letter to the Railway Ministry

Dear Shri A K Mittal
Chairman & Ex-Officio Principal Secretary

Ministry of Railways

After a long time i have some hopes about rejuvenation in Railways.   There is lot of scope for improvement in many areas. I take this opportunity to list out few suggestions to improve the overall condition of railways and also to improve the systems:

Toilets:

The Toilets on all trains need to be changed at the earliest, if we are really serious about Cleanliness, Health & Hygiene in Trains / Stations and in the country. Please do not give this base less defensive argument that you do not have the money. If that was the case then how come we are talking about Bullet Trains? And still if you do not have money put a surcharge or cess on Railway tickets as per the class of travel for a period of say 2 years or 3 years. Review it and extend if required after coming out with a white paper about collection and actual spending, which can be challenged under RTI.

You can also plan a simpler and cheaper option for general and 3 tier compartments. Provide automatic door locking system which locks the doors of toilets for 5 kms before and after the stations. You can provide manual over ride from inside, in case someone is stuck up. Alternatively you can make provision to collect waste under the bogies with auto opening / closing of a suitable shutter plate which closes / opens before and after certain KMs from the station.

Train Reservation:

First and foremost the reservation lead period should be reduced from 4 months to two months. I do not think it is helping the real passengers any which way.

There should be a possibility for group booking. It is observed Most of the times that the group gets a scattered booking and thus they are never together.

Alternatively Railway can design compartments which can have two half compartments of 30 - 32 berths each for a 3 tier compartment and 20 - 22 berths for a 2 tier compartment. So at any time these could be assigned to 2 groups separatgely, or can be thrown open in case there is no group booking. The railway could charge extra money for such exclusive booking.

For on Line booking the railways should certainly come out with the option of seat / berth selection left to the passengers, much like it is available for air lines, Pvt Buses, Cinemas etc.

Railways should have a couple of 3 tier bogies and at least one bogie exclusively kept for quotas for various stations on route, and also for VIP quotas. Then it will be possible to implement the berth selection rights to the passengers.

For On - Line Bookings, Make it mandatory to provide any of the Photo IDs like the PAN Card Number / Voter ID / Adhar Card Number to avoid agents getting away with major bookings. In fact the system should demand the number and uploading of the card to have a better leak proof system. Keeping separate time slots might not be serving the intended purpose. For Off Line Bookings the booking clerk should ask for the ID proof and up load on the system. The ticket should also get print out of the id proof. Railways can consult some experts and come out with a foolproof solution.

Speed Of Existing Trains:

I would also like to request the ministry to first take up the task of increasing the speed of existing trains by about 30 % or so. It may call for some investments in improving the condition of railway lines. So be it. But that should be taken on pripority. The travel time can easily be reduced by an hour or two in a 600 - 800 kms travel.

Similarly Laying of 2 Lines on long distances should be taken on priority. Lot of time is wasted because of single line between many stations.

General:

Number of bogies should be increased by opting for a higher capacity / power engine. We may have to increase the platform length to ensure that the full train gets a platform.

Electrification should be completed on all major routes.

All Level Crossings should be replaced with flyovers or subways, as required.

Special 2 tier bogies should be designed and included on all major routes to suit senior citizens. The upper berth could be designed with a suitable ladder where senior citizens could climb easily. The  lower berths should be automatically assigned to citizens above certain age and the upper berths could be assigned to other senior citizens. A few berths should be designed and assigned to specially able persons. At Least one toilet in such compartments should also be designed accordingly.

The railway stations / platforms / special train compartment should also be designed to ensure that such specially able citizens are comfortable throughout the journey. 

Swatch Bharat - Kitna Swatch aaur Kitna Sach

They say "statistics don't lie, even though these may tell only half the truth ". So, it would have been really nice if the government had come out with some numbers showing the achievements against the targets on various factors such as:

Toilets:

Total number of schools, Number of Toilets planned in schools and toilets built?

How many schools, out of the above list, have segregated toilets for males - females?

How many of these and the old ones are in operation and how many of these do have water?

How many of these and the old ones are being regularly maintained?

Potable Drinking Water:

How many schools have safe drinking water facility?

How many schools have clean hand wash facility with toilet soaps - liquid soap?

General Hygiene:

How many schools have solid and liquid waste management systems?

How many schools are given a lime coat every two years at least?

Same set of Questions should be addressed for villages in the country, Tier I & Tier II towns - cities and also the urban cities.

Such a paper or a report card will clearly show the ground reality and also tell us if the government means business or not?

In fact I had written to the PMO about achieving this mammoth goal in set time line - that is 2 nd October of 2019. I had suggested then that every member of the Ruling Coalition should spend time and their allotted yearly MP fund only on these above mentioned swatch bharat activities. Seeing this either the other parties will also be forced to toe the line or they will fall apart and get exposed about their intentions.

I saw the swatch bharat awards ceremony initiated by the India Today Group. I would like to suggest the PM that he should ask the States rules by BJP and alliance groups to announce such schemes at Gram Pachayat - Municipal Corporation levels and interstate levels to recognize the efforts of citizens - corporates in following categories:

Swatch Village in at the Gram Panchayat Level

Swatch Village in the District

Swatch Village in the State

Swatch Tier I & Tier II towns & Cities

Swatch Municipal Corporation

Swatchtam Place in the State

Swatch Government Run School at each of the above levels

Swatch Private School at each of the above levels

Swatchtam School in the state

Swatchtam Tourist destination in the state

Swatchtam Historical Monument in the State

Swatchtam Bus Stand in the State

Swatchtam Railway Station in the State

Swatchtam State among the BJP - Alliance ruled States

We could add many more categories. Each Award should have a Prize Money of Rs. 1.0 Lac & a citation. Such winners should get more allocation of funds for development of roads - infrastructure in their area.

I am sure this will not only have a multiplier effect but will also spread awareness amongst the citizens certainly. This will also show to the nation that the BJP is a different party with a definite vision. The other states will be forced to follow these measures or fall by the way side and get exposed.

Reference Number is : PMOPG/E/2015/0119159

How are you different, Sir ?

I had lots of hope when I felt that there will be a CHANGE in Thinking and approach after the new Government was sworn in. I always felt that a CHANGE brings in freshness and rejuvenating energy to the whole system. The complacency will not breathe, at least for some time. Humility will override arrogance etc etc. 

But it appears that the new dispensation - that is the BJP is no different than the old one - the Congress. Every one appears to be either thinking of retaining the Chair or Grabbing it again. Certainly the stakes appear to have become humongous and highly disproportionate. That is the reason Good Governance has taken a back seat. This will be the case before every small or big election now. That is what was Policy Paralysis was during UPA regime too. 

Otherwise, how can anyone explain the logic of  the total and abysmally low priority given by the government for situations arising out of Draught and Flood, Rising Prices, GST, Labour Reform etc.

Take for instance the Rising Prices of essential commodities like Onions and Certain pulses like Arahar Daal. Did this government dot know about shortfalls in rains this year? Why was action delayed so much to first allow the prices to sky - rocket, thereby allowing  certain sections to make huge money?

Then, again take the issue of Drought and Farmer Suicide. Was it something new that the government was caught unaware ? why Government did not come out with some proactive action plan, well in time and immediately after the met department announced that there will be huge short fall in monsoon.

There should have been a short term and a long term action plan immediately after this government took over from Congress, Be there any rains or no rains. Government is only serious about drip irrigation. What about the Insurance against Losses in agriculture? The Compensations have been increased, but have these reached the concerned? What about giving subsidies in seeds ? If the answers to these were positive, then how on earth the Deaths continue to take place. Why then  blame it on sex - love related matters?

If this government had shown positive results on these two counts - Rains / Drought and Price Rise, then that would have shown to the nation that this government is different, pro poor. The Jan Dhan Yojana, Insurance Cover against accidents and the Pension Scheme are good efforts but it would have been great if the government had shown same kind of ZEAL and Enthusiasm to tackle this Yearly Crisis of Rain / Drought.

There are many such issues. Yes, Growth is a Must, Job Creation too is important but then these issues affect the daily lives of large sections of our society and the government cannot and should not ignore these at all.

Is anyone in the government thinking about it seriously? Let it be known to the nation Loud & Clear.

What happened to the report card you talked about, from each of the ministry? Sir, the time is running out thick and fast. The aam janata is sick of this logic now that you have been in power for 18 months only? You have raised the bar of expectations so you must answer now. Is it not good enough time to show that you are on right path?

Reference Number is : PMOPG/E/2015/0096013 dtd 13.09.2015

Take the OROP to its’ logical conclusion, Sir

 I only hope that it happens to be the last letter to the PM / PMO on this issue.

I certainly feel that there is someone from the bureaucracy who is bent on spoiling the issue. Sir, knowing the capacity of the bureaucracy in twisting the written word, you and your ministers should have read the fine print with a microscope. Anyway, the damage has been done now; the veterans had to resort to the agitation at Jantarmantar. Fine, but why it was allowed to be dragged to 85 odd days. In case your fire fighters had taken the veterans in confidence right from the beginning and you had convened the first kick of meeting, the impact would have been totally different. It only reflects on the lack of confidence and trust building measures the governments has shown in many of the recent cases, be it land reform, the labour reform or this OROP case. 

Even now the OROP case is an half cooked plate which is offered to the armed forces. Why the minor niggles should still have been left unresolved in the first place. Did you not know their demands from the beginning, or is it that some people were over confident that whatever was done was enough, and the announcement which appears unilateral will force a division in the ranks?

Even now, the unresolved issues could be ironed out by wresting the initiative and calling representatives of the agitating group, some representatives of the armed forces currently serving, retired chiefs of armed forces and sort out the issues. You have said on many occasions that discussions and talks are the only ways to resolve the issues. 

I can suggest three step approach as under:

First call a meeting where in some representatives of the armed forces currently serving, retired chiefs of armed forces, Union Home Minister, Defence Minister and Finance Minister, and members of PMO are called for a meeting under your chairmanship. Discuss all pending issues and chalk - out a strategy with couple of plans / options. Appoint one person to lead the discussions with the agitators. It could be anyone from the retired chiefs of forces. Give them a time line and clearance to accept any of the plans / options discussed during the meeting. No deviations should be allowed then.

Then call for a meeting with the representatives of the agitating group. Give them your personal assurance and take them in confidence and tell them that they should also be prepared to walk a few steps and look for win – win situation. Tell them upfront as to who will lead the discussions on your behalf.

  

Then ask them to discuss and negotiate with the representatives of the agitating group. This meeting may not yield result in the very first meeting. It is fine. Discuss the issues with the leader of your team, look for the gaps considering their view point and look for newer options.

Such rounds may be required only a couple of times, if the intentions are clear and if there is mutual trust built up.

They all trust you. So, take the bull by its horns.

Reference Number is : PMOPG/E/2015/0089826

OROP - How Long it will drag?

It is really very sad that the RSS had to intervene in the OROP issue, and that political gains from Bihar Polls are being considered for settling this 3 month long agitation, even after 40 years of procrastination on this issue.

It appears that the PM is very soft on the Babus, Concerned Ministers or the Mediators and allowing them to get to a solution. They all are giving different and misleading versions to the public and media. I cannot understand why the government is not engaging in direct talks with the representatives of the armed forces and sort out these issues. They are not our enemies, after all, or are they? Let us all remember the armed forces in times of PEACE also.

The Armed Forces certainly deserve much more and better treatment, rather than this kind of embarrassment. 

Honorable PM must rise above all this and take a more assertive stand on this. Please show the nation that you are the supreme commander in the government.

If the PM can doll out huge packages to Bihar, one after the other, for gains in the coming polls, why he is dragging feet on this issue when the people in question are saviours of the nation? That is something which defies the Logic and Reason.

We all want a respectable solution to this issue and are prepared to cough out additional taxes levied as cess for this noble cause, that if government says that yes, they have the money to declare packages for political gains, and that they do not have money for the OROP, or similar issues.

I have a simple message to the Government – “Enough is Enough. Please pull up your socks and get on to this job. Don’t go home for next few days till the matter is taken to its logical conclusion. Do the armed forces see the sun or light or rains when there is war against the nation? 

If the answer is negative, then how come the concerned persons in the Government should continue to live in their comfort zone.

Reference : PMOPG/E/2015/0084980