Sunanda K Datta-Ray: Waiting for the man

Will Dinesh Trivedi's first Railway Budget help the railways gain some of its lost glory?

I was glad to be able to tell Dinesh Trivedi that I have long felt that the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) at Perambur should only make bullock carts to trundle on the roughest unpaved tracks. I expected the railway minister to jump up with angry pride and declare that he would have me know Perambur exports coaches to Tanzania, Vietnam, Mozambique and other exotic destinations. I had my retort ready: we poor natives are then fobbed off with the export rejects. But, no! Far from taking umbrage, Trivedi readily agreed, suggesting an even more drastic fate for the ICF.

Then I remembered he’s a businessman. Whatever else they might be up to, businessmen want results. They are inspired by the profit motive, which makes a healthy change from the usual run of railway ministers who pander to public sentiment by providing constituencies with fancy stations and constituents with trains with fancy names. Mamata Banerjee had a readymade Kolkata Metro waiting for the new names with which she confused commuters while basking in the pride of a great achievement.

Earlier we had the inimitable Laloo whose earthenware cups came to mind when I read of a Vietnamese foreign minister, Nguyen Co Thach, boasting, “We are not without accomplishment. We have managed to distribute poverty equally.”

That’s been the problem with Indian Railways ever since Indians got hold of it. Quality became criminal; deprivation fashionable. Morarji Desai self-righteously lopped off the sitting room in Rajdhani sleepers without reducing first class air-conditioned fares to match the diminished return. All other amenities – compartments, fittings, catering, waiting rooms, toilets, staff uniforms, staff quality – steadily deteriorated. With rough and ready facilities came rough and ready behaviour like pantry car staff ganging up with hoodlums to rob passengers.

Safety in all its dimensions already has Trivedi’s attention. I am told that unmanned level crossings account for 40 per cent of accidents though anarchic public behaviour is the real culprit. Squatting on roofs and hanging out of doors also cause fatalities. It’s a chicken and egg situation. Mechanical lapses encourage anti-social behaviour but anti-social behaviour results in mechanical lapses. Lee Kuan Yew discouraged chewing gum to prevent Singaporeans sticking it in train doors. Imagine Singapore’s smooth, swift, streamlined Metro immobilised!

Action here can be counter-productive. My durwan was alarmed when I described his travails on the Dhauli Express in my column (“Corruption Express”) on June 18, 2011. Frightened when I told him an inquiry had been instituted and they wanted him to contact a particular inspector, he flatly refused to do so. He was convinced it would mean more victimisation.

Abuse of authority and criminals in uniform are not confined to the railways whose problems concern shoddy equipment, poor maintenance and indiscipline. Everything else follows. I remember once, long before the Emergency, when trains suddenly began running on time. Several hours had been cunningly added to every schedule so that drivers, guards and station and running staff had no option but to reach their destinations on time. They soon got used to the extra hours and began dawdling again. There was no one to tick them off.

Now there is, but Trivedi can’t do much without more money. Raising upper class fares (which lag far behind comparable air fares) alone won’t solve anything because only a tiny number of people travel comfortably. Fares must go up for the 20 or 30 million lower class passengers so that a self-supporting, even profit-making, system can think of bonds and Buffet. And Trivedi must make them pay the higher fares instead of slipping a few rupees to corrupt inspectors. Dare he?

But passengers alone can’t sustain the system. With India opening up, the railways must attract more freight. They will with speed, efficient door-to-door delivery, rationalised costs and guaranteed security. Whatever happened to the Ellis lock for wagons invented right here in Kolkata?

If Kolkata’s electric charges can go up, there’s no reason why those who use trains and tracks shouldn’t pay for better service. Railway consultative committee members want them to. Only Trivedi’s party chief who dare not charge for water lest it further alienate already disillusioned voters can object. But she doesn’t yet head the UPA, not even after Manipur whetted Trinamool’s national aspirations.

She may change her mind, as she did over increasing the Railway Protection Force’s powers. We won’t have to wait long to find out. Trivedi will present his first Budget as railway minister next Wednesday. If Didi does crack the whip, why, there’s his Bentley waiting.

sunandadr@yahoo.co.in