Bane Of Short Tenures Returns To Haunt Railways

The call for fixed tenures of senior Railway officials is back again after a reprieve of two years as the next three months would see as many important members of the board retiring, to be replaced by incumbents who would get just a few months at the top job.

The state of affairs at the country's largest employer with 15.5 lakh staff is so bad that between 1995 and 1997, there were four chairmen, two financial commissioners and three incumbents at the post of member, (mechanical).

The last fiscal itself saw three financial commissioners, which is significant, given the poor state of Railway finances.

Most of the present seven board members got a longer tenure after retirement age was increased from 58 to 60 years in 1998.

But now they have started to superannuate, leading to gaps in policy formulation with each new official doing things his or her own way.

The financial commissioner P Rajagopalan would retire on July 31, followed by chairman Ashok Kumar and member (mechanical) K B Sankaran in August.

Towards the end of the year, member (staff) K Balakesari and member (electric) N K Chidambaram would also superannuate, sources told Business Standard.

The next incumbents would also get very little time, thanks to the government's policy of allowing the senior-most officer rise to become a member, which is a secretary-level appointment.

Similarly, the senior-most member takes over as the board chairman as and when the vacancy arises.

Several expert bodies, including McKinsey and the World Bank had advised the Railways to change the system and have three-year terms for board members, the sources said, adding, till that happens, "we would see new faces every year on the board".

"Often, the board member simply bides his time and does not take uncomfortable decisions as he is aware he would not be at the post for long and has no stake in the organisation's future. Similarly, there is apathy towards working on new schemes and the corporate plan of the Railways goes haywire," a senior official said.