Your Circle Inputs and their Incorporation

Financial & operational prudence is the key to success for any organisation. One of the largest organisation of India having million work force engaged directly or indirectly is plagued by lack of will to develop into a modern organisation. The present Railway Minister Mr.Suresh prabhu’s initiative is in the right direction. Lots of suggestion have been forthcoming on various issues ranging from ticketing, pantry service to issues at platform. It is a well known fact that modernization of Railways is imperative & long overdue , but paucity of funds is holding it back. Albeit, there are ways to raise funds through bonds, or increase cash inflows through a) raising freight rates & passenger fares ; b) cost reduction by plugging various inefficiencies that have crept in this system. Inefficiencies in the system is a major cause of concern for any organisation & there is no simple way to address these problems. It requires a lot of in-depth study to get into the issue. For the sake of raising fund, hike in freight rates and passenger fares should be the last resort, without gauging into the degree of actual inefficiencies that is prevalent in the system. Inefficiencies ,if properly, plugged in can save millions of scarce resources. I would like to present few points concerning mostly on finance & costing part of operations of Railway. 1. Computerization of all the departments :: Apart from ticketing and some departments, which are already computerized across the country, most of other commercial departments are not yet computerized, resulting in day to day work being carried out in age old system of maintaining manual log book, ledger, etc resulting in a) slow pace of progress of daily work, b) use of more than required man power (i.e excessive manpower). c) increased cost in the form of salary, wages, and other benefits /expenses forming part and parcel of salary & wages. Computerization should be taken up across all departments and existing staff should be trained/re-trained , where ever necessary, to bring them upto the desired level of competency. VRS scheme can be introduced for staff failing to reach the desired level of compentency. Focus should be on Cost reduction with stress on enhancement in quality of service . 2.Time –Study-:: Setting up standard for completion of job on time for all department, . (This can be achieved only after full computerization is carried out). Accountability can be set for delay across all departments. 3. Appraisal system:: There is need to overhaul appraisal system in vogue. Carrot for performers and stick for non-performers should be introduced. The present system leaves no room for rewarding good workers . A fixed percent increase in wages based on pay commission recommendation is based on the assumption that all workers are equal performers should be done away with a system whereby performers are rewarded . 4. Wages to revenue ratio:: Study should be made on the total wages to total revenue ratio and efforts should be made to bring it down. A prudent & detailed study is required to carry out such a task. 5. Ambiance within the office :: Most of the Railway offices are housed in old buildings. Ambiance is very poor. Old / outdated furnitures are used. This has a negative impact on the efficiency of the workers. 6. Recruitment system – Age old system of hiring is still prevalent. Large private houses hire from colleges, management institutes, engineering colleges and they getting the good results . Campus hiring should be given a chance and there is no reason why this will not work for organisation like Railways ? For an organization with a million work force, there should be a **dedicated** institute which will cater to the requirement of different departments of Railway only, like engineering, commercial, customer service, hospitality, catering, etc. Recruitment are to be made from such institute directly. Last but not the least,Service of reputed management consultant can be sought for in-depth study and recommendation for the all the above mentioned points. more  

R/Prabhu Sir, With you at helm of affairs there is lot of improvement & much more is required to be done. But you have certainly created a positive environment & have created an atmosphere of 'we can do it'. I find that platform no 1 at most stations whether it Chandigarh/lucknow or Jhansi is quite clean but other platform are not that clean. More over I have found that sweepers at platforms cleans the platform but sweeps/throw all the garbage on to tracks. Further the travellers also throw all the cartons/packing/glasses/bottles on to tracks of trains. 1>I suggest that the no of dustbins should be increased. 2> Rateable sellers should have their own dustbins & should ensure that the eatables they are selling are not thrown on platforms around them. 3>On platforms where the people boards the train, i.e. on ground/platform parallel to train there should be signboards for people "l do not throw cartons/bottles/garbage on the Track. Throw it in dustbin" 4> People/vendors should be fined for throwing such garbage on to tracks/platform.dustbin country Once again we thank this Government for creating a positive atmosphere in the country which was considered to be otherwise a dustbin country. Thanks & regards, N K SHARMA more  

Railway waiting rooms need attention. My recent expirence @ Bangalore city ( SBC) station is an example. Sleeper waiting on room was dirty. no dust bin in sight. chairs kept hapazradly. The toilet person kept collecting Rs2 for urinals which is free. The board displaying rates is not cleraly visible. After contesting Rs 2 collection he allowed me to use free. But many paid with out a murmur. Public awareness is to be created, more  

Prabhuji, Kindly see that all the stations particularly Delhi NCR like Sarai Rohilla, Delhi Cantt. stations are clean. It is not only the station platform but also the in and around where all the filths lie unattended. Please make the canteenwala/ hawkers also part of the 'clean India' mission. Even the management authorities of different temples, mosques and other religious places are to be necessarily to be roped in in this clean India movement it is they who can really keep the surroundings clean and also act like watch-dogs. I am sure it will be done without any cost. Even the TTEs, coolies, cobblers and other concerned citizens need to be made aware about the importance of cleanliness. Please also put boldly the sign boards with a signature campaign that the offices are "CORRUPTION FREE OFFICE". This will automatically make people aware including the officers who may have the tendency to practice it. Just this bold signs boards with this message can bring changes in the attitudes. It should be placed in every offices from top to below. I am sure it will not cost much but it will bring a sea change in people's mind. Already 7-months have passed but the visibility of this types of signboards declaring the offices as "CORRUPTION FREE OFFICE" are not seen anywhere. Even the Police Stations are to be necessarily should put up this boldly. Can the different Ministries do this simple service? more  

sriman prabhu ji namskar.ab hame aap se bahut hiasha he ki railway ki kaya palat hojayegi.me abhi last 15 dec. se 4th jan. tak tour pe tha aur 9 days train me hi tha.but abhi bhi bahut kam baki he.ayr facility nahi ke baraber he.safai,lighting.water ,food,tea,rpf, t.t work is not good.pl. dont mind take nacessary step for better service. i am ready to help. more