Indian Railpain

India moves on the railways, approximately 4 billion passengers use the facility every year. Indian Railroads provide the back bone in moving the nation (people and freight). The bourgeoisie and the proletariat use its services. With over 65,000 KM length of track it is the largest Railroad company under a single management in the world.

The unfortunate part is one cannot have a good experience travelling the Indian Railways. The pain starts from the point of entry into the station and carries on till one reaches destination, no proper parking places, chaotic platforms, even more chaos at the inquiry booths etc … no end to the misery of the passenger especially to the old and physically challenged. Try taking your old parents on a journey by the Indian Railways.

Practically everything the Railways own today in terms of buildings, real estate, Infrastructure is the british legacy with some tinkering done around in improving track infra and investments into modern electronic signaling.

The Railway ministry and the attached cabinet role are highly politicized with the Bihar strongmen vying for the coveted cabinet role primarily to dole out favors to their constituencies. The current minister Mamata Banerjee is one more challenger to this whose purpose also was evident in the last budget - add more trains to WB.
The only strategy adopted by the rail ministers over the decades is not to increase freight and general passenger rates, increase the A/C and 1st class rates a bit and claim it is a commons mans rail budget. They talk about improving infrastructure in the budget every year and do nothing about it.

Considering the vast usage of the rail roads by the citizens for inter city and state movement one would expect the government to invest heavily in improving the infrastructure all round. The pathetic facilities at the stations and the archaic compartments used for travel are disgusting.

If these figures are right what is the stopping the government in investing -
Indian Railways Revenues and Surplus

Year Revenue
(Rs Crore) Surplus before Dividend (Rs Crore)
2004-05 47,370 4,612
2005-06 54,491 9,118
2006-07 63,220 13,000
2007-08 71,218 (est) 21,578

Source – diehardindian.com )

Folks who enjoy travelling in railways are its own officers and their political bosses (with special compartments and services at their beck and call).

Time to have a serious look at the entire rail infrastructure and make it friendly for the folks who pay for it – Indian citizens.

Mockery of a tragedy

After waiting for 26 long years the survivors and relatives of Bhopal gas tragedy are crying foul on the rap on the knuckles punishment given to the perpetrators. Failure of the government to put up a strong case against the company and dilution of the severity of the crime are reasons for the light sentencing.

Successive Indian Governments did not have the courage to seek extradition of Warren Anderson, he apparently escaped with the connivance of the authorities immediately after the accident. Prime Minister Man Mohan Singh constituting some vague cabinet committee to look into the judgment is an eye wash without much seriousness to address the issue.

After claiming damages for USD 3.3 billion, Government of the day agreed for a paltry USD 470 mil final settlement. INR 75k for the deceased and 25k for the injured is all the victims could get as compensation. An accident of such magnitude in the developed world would have made the company payout large sums in compensation to the victims and various other penalties to the Government. BP oil spill is a case in point where the US president himself is monitoring the situation and am sure BP will have to pay a heavy price for the accident and agree for strict operational controls under USEPA.

Weak laws related to Industrial safety and Environment protection allow companies to get away with murder in India. One need not look afar to see the Environmental damage many of these companies are committing on a daily basis in various cities across the country. For e.g. Patancheru and Jeedimetla areas in Hyderabad are the most polluted. Industrial waste is let out into open areas leading to ground water pollution. I am not sure what the AP pollution control board does to monitor and control pollution in these areas but one can definitely see ecological and environmental damage being inflicted in these areas on a daily basis.

I think the subject of Industrial safety and Environment protection fall under two different ministries and both of these ministries are asleep, wake up ministers.

illicit Revenues

The move by AP Government to give out more liquor licenses to shore up state revenues reflects the government’s lack of responsibility towards citizens and total bankruptcy of ideas.

If you were to drive on the National or State highways in AP, Karnataka and many other states in India all you find are liquor shops dotted all along the route. No wonder the increasing number of road accidents in the country are related to drunken driving. It is common to find intoxicated men walking unsteadily on roads during late evenings.

The spurt of liquor shops in small towns and villages is an ugly site along the entire landscape of the state and country. That all these bids are backed by political leadership speaks volumes about social responsibility of our leaders (it is being said that powerful political leaders beat up bidders who are not aligned to their interests).

The human cost of allowing liquor shops to prosper is something government is caring a hoot. With little or no health care or insurance coverage to its citizens Government is basically pushing the alcoholics and their families over the cliff.
Instead of strengthening the revenue collection and prevent leakage from its genuine sources Government is adopting an easy way out to shore up revenues with total irresponsibility towards its citizen and community welfare.

With such a fine set of economists in the planning commission and in the bureaucracy at the center and state I am surprised that this is the best idea they could come up with to raise revenues.

Corruption and more of it

On a recent visit to my village I was keen to know about the effectiveness of implementation of NREGA (National rural employment guarantee program). As with any other social upliftment program in India it turns to be a disappointment. First I was told the program is not run for 200 days as promised and much more serious about INR 5 Lakh was drawn by one individual faking signatures. There are many such stories about corruption in NREGA initiative across the country.
We suffer from lack of strong administrative control in the country on most fronts and this is no exception. Thousands of crores get siphoned off without reaching the intended beneficiaries.

Late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi said for every 1 rupee spent by the government only 10 paise is utilized for the intended purpose, it is still true.

Let us hope UID project will achieve its primary objective of providing identification and economic inclusivity for the poor and needy of the country. Till then our political class will keep looting the country.