improving railway services

Honarable Shri Suresh Prabhu,

I have a few suggestions to make to see that the railways offer better services. These are as under:

1. Just as we have the senior citizens get preference for Lower Berths, Pregnant Ladies & Temporarily disabled people like fractured leg should be given preferential treatment for lower berths. Such Passengers should get medical certificates from their gynac / orthopedic doctors.

2. Group Booking should be allowed for Tourists / Marriage groups in one compartment together. At Least 6 - 8 passengers in a group should get berths together, 2 / 3 on either side in 2 / 3 tier and 2 on sides  .They should carry a proof to show that they all are together for a reason. Railways can charge Rs. 30 / per passenger for group booking

3. Four compartments ( 2 each in 2 tier & 3 tier sleeper coaches  ) should have a provision for choosing your seats / berths. Railways may charge extra Rs. 50 - 100 / 100 – 200 on flexi time charge basis for 3 tier / 2 tier seats or berths booked on preferential basis.

4.  Wi - Fi  Seva should be given on the go. Railways may charge Rs. 50 for use up to 4 hours, Rs. 80 for use up to 8 hours and Rs. 100 for use beyond 8 hours. These should be paid while booking tickets on line. Rail - Pay can be developed by Railways like PayTM for making payments after boarding the train also. The rail pay can be used for ticket booking on line or through mobile application also.. The same app can be used for purchase of local tickets / passes in metro cities for travel by local / metros.

5. Railways should increase the fares in the range of 5 – 15 % for 2^nd and 1^st class passenger / express / super fast trains every 2 -3 years, and not once in a decade  or so. Similarly it should levy fuel / power surcharge of 2 -5  %  on 1^st class passengers for express and super fast trains.

6. Food Quality needs improvements. I have observed that same menu is served on Rajdhani / Shatabdi / Duranto day - in & day - out for years together. Passengers should be given option for food of their choice, served hot. Railways may charge extra money for this special service.  

The first suggestion is a welfare measure so no extra charges should be levied, whereas Railways should charge extra money for some additional service provided by the Railways. This would help generate additional revenue. The money so generated can be used for improving infrastructure / Safety / Signaling Systems etc.

Shri Jawdekar errs

Today I saw on TV gruesome killing of Neel Gais in Bihar. The order to do so was approved by Environment Minister Shri Jawdekar in response to a request from the state government. It might be as per provisions of Law, so what. Could the state and the center have come out with some other measure ? Certainly yes, in my opinion.

These animals could have been captured and transfer ed to other national sanctuaries where they could have lead a peaceful life till they fell pray to the big cat family or sent to some zoos. I can not see why this could not have been done. The logic and rationale of killing is beyond my comprehension. 

Animal Protectionists, if consulted, might have come out with some more practical solutions.

It appears to be a decision taken in haste, certainly.

Shivaji Maharaj on Currency Notes

Recently a message about it spread like wild fire on mobile networks. Apparently it was a signature campaign of sorts generated by RBI. Every Maharashtrian  took pride in forwarding this message further to garner more and more support. However there was a query questioning the merit or demerit of this campaign. Let me make an attempt to put my perspective on this issue.

Initially our currency notes carried King George photos till independence. Why the ashok sthamba replaced the king George photo has a rationale and a solid reason, and it does not need any explanation.

But, How Gandhi replaced Ashoka Sthamba is a big question. At Least Ahok Sthamba was and still is the symbol of RBI. So logically there was no harm in continuing with it.

RBI must have, certainly under the influence of Congress Ruled Government in that period , brought about this change and replaced the ashoka sthamba by Gandhi's photo. There is no certainty about who christened Gandi as Father of the Nation.

No doubt he stands tall in the list of freedom fighters and other Indians, but certainly he is not the only one.  B R Ambedkar, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Subhash Chandra Bose, Ravindra Nath Tagore, Maharana Pratap, Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Shaheed Bhagat Singh, Chandra Shekhar Azad, Veer Savarkar , Maulana Azad, Guru Gobind Singh, Sant Tukaram & Sant Dyasneshwar etc are few names from a endless list of individuals who played equal roles in the History of India.

So I strongly feel that they all should have been given their due respect and recognition by all, including the RBI. It will be apt and appropriate to commemorate these Indians, recognize their selfless contribution and show respect. Commemoration acts as a reminder to a common citizen.

It would have therefore been befitting if the RBI had set up a committee to formulate a policy about printing currency notes with their photos, much like the postal department does to commemorate these People, and continue with currency notes with Ahok Stambh as a regular currency.

There is always a danger of denigration, misuse show of disrespect of the currency notes , Statues, Road Signs in their names, but then there is a system to take punitive action against miscreants. We should not stop doing certain things just for the fear of such wrongdoings. That in my opinion is cowardice.

After all lord krishna says " karmanye wa Dhikaraste Ma phaleshu Kadachanam  ".

It is altogether a different issue that the RBI has now deferred its decision. But certainly the time has come now to stop eulogizing M K Gandhi alone.

Open Letter to Shri Nitin Gadkari

The Pune  - Mumbai Express way is a death trap of sorts. Government has been doing many things of late, but still it is missing on smaller and simpler but effective means to curb accidents.

It is known that the lane discipline is not at all followed in the country so how can we talk about it for this road. But looking at the number of deaths on such expressways certain things can certainly be done as under:

The heavy vehicles should be limited to left most section of the road. You can put height barricades at certain intervals on the right side , install CC TV cameras at various locations, at least on the accident prone section of the ghat on the road and put heavy penalty to begin with followed by temporary or permanent cancellation of driver license or owner's permit depending on number of violations.

I tell you this will give you immediate results.

Similarly the lighting in the tunnels is anything but satisfactory. Combination of LED & Sodium Vapor Lights and increased number will help in a great way. Similarly the internal walls on the tunnels should be painted with white fluorescent paint and there should be curbing with lights on each side like you see on the runways at airport.

Again these are simple and doable things.

I am a retired professional project engineer and i am ready to help the ministry in improving safety of roads throughout the country, free of cost if my travel and stay is taken care off. choice is yours.

This letter is sent today on his e mail id: nitin.gadkari@nic.in