Sunday, April 16, 2017

#GetGloryBack


Today, as we celebrate the birthday of one of the largest public sector employer in the world, the picture looks gloomy for the  enterprise.
 
British must have built and expanded railways in India for their selfish gains but it is also one of the gifts to the country when it got independent. We had a great mesh of tracks connecting many hinterlands of the country. It is still very evident. Every place in India that has seen accelerated growth has a railway station in its vicinity. The places which did not have rail connectivity did not make great inroads on development until Road Infrastructure started improving in the past 2 decades. Take Mumbai for example. It wouldn't have been the same Financial Capital unless it had a robust rail infrastructure. While many argue that we still have 10 deaths on a daily basis due to congestion. You can't negate the fact that without trains, Mumbai would have been like any other 2 tier city in the country. The only thing that brings Mumbai to halt is rains and the subsequent failure of trains. Such is its importance to Mumbai Economy.
 
 Today, with revenues dwindling, high operational costs, higher pay outs, lower investments and fast challenging alternative means of transport. Indian Railways is probably facing a situation of Quick Sand. The more efforts, its taking to fix the issues, deeper is it sinking.
 
There are some radical changes required, some very unpopular ones, some challenging the institution and some challenging the mere existence of its operational structure. A fresh breath of investment with strong  and viable returns is the need of the hour. The man at the helm is probably the best person to do that and he is definitely putting in a lot of efforts. He is failing at some innovations but he hasn't backed out yet. The zeal to raise  IR from its doldrums keeps him going. He is not very popular in his political circle, but he understands economics and the fruits of strategic planning don't bear fruits in a month. It takes years for them to materialize on the ground. What makes him different from his predecessors is that he still is a student at heart and the urge for learning and taking corrective action is imbibed in him like a teenage student. His TED Talk clearly shows the path he wants to follow.
 
We need to be patient with him and give him a free hand to break traditions, think out of the box, and deliver. The organization is so huge that it is simply not realistic, if you wish to see the change within a year or 2. Like a Systematic Investment Plan (SIP); IR needs time to grow its capacity and realize its full potential. Give him 10 years and I am sure we will see a different IR.
 
I have travelled far and wide in South East Asian countries and have travelled in most metros in these regions. There isn't much of a difference between Delhi Metro and a Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Tokyo Metro. Beyond the cosmetic difference of the seating in the coaches, our Metro systems work as efficiently as theirs. This essentially means, Indians are capable of building world class rail infrastructure, and operating it. But, it needs a strong financial backing and men of grit who want to circumvent the red tape and complete tasks at hand before the deadlines. While Delhi Metro is not Indian Railways, it can be emulated and teachings can be taken into consideration.
 
We are at juncture in the history of Indian Railways where it can collapse altogether or start rising like a Phoenix. For the betterment of country, economy and its people, I wish we do the latter. IR has finally started understanding its customers needs better. They have started listening and responding. There are Organizational and Financial restructuring happening like overhauling of reporting structure, analysis of data,digitalization of workflows and more power to the executives. Accrual based accounting and creation of an authority to look into tariffs , all augurs well.
 
I may be a rail fan, and bound to be biased to the aspirations of IR. But, there would be hardly any Indian who has travelled  on the gigantic Indian Railways and not cherish their journey.
 
Its time to #GetGloryBack
 
Long live Indian Railways !!!

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