Gopal Gwalabanshi
In a significant reversal of strategy, the Railway Ministry has decided to cancel all Indian Railways privatization plans within the next one month.
The move comes after an urgent meeting of what remains of the Railway Board and the Railway Ministry officials was held last night. The meeting was triggered by a RailPost.in report flagging several vacancies that remain unfilled in the Railway Board and at the zonal level. A deep dive by officials revealed that there were a high number of vacancies all across the organization.
Reversal of Privatization
Privatization of services would have meant a higher level of services provided by fewer people. Both are highly undesirable situations and may set bad precedents for the future. Many officials were in favour of upholding long-held traditions and service standards established by hard work over decades by IR.
In order to avoid excess burden on employees as a result of de-privatization, IR will also consider asking passengers to take over some jobs during the journey. For example, passengers may be asked to take over the selling of pantry car food to other passengers. Those with no known cooking skills may be asked to take over as cooks in pantry cars. This will ensure that the quality and taste of food is maintained according to IR standards.
Other passengers may be asked to take over as Ticket Examiners, coach attendants and tea vendors. The Board feels that passengers will be able to deliver the same level of service that long-time passengers have been accustomed to. A committee has been set up to examine which other roles can be taken up by non-employees. A Railway Board member, on the condition of anonymity, explained that this will give passengers a sense of ownership over Indian Railways
In a rare meeting of minds, several unions have hailed these new management initiatives. They have promised to work closely with the Railway Board to make the plans a success.
Fresh Recruitment
Besides, a high number of vacancies has unfavourably skewed the WTSR in many departments. Indian Railways now plans to achieve and exceed WTSR by recruiting another 10 lakh workers to bring the WTSR from the current 1:5 to 1:10.
WTS ratio, or Worker To Slacker Ratio, is a sophisticated metric used to measure levels of productivity in government organizations. As per Government of India regulations mandated in 1950, The WTSR must be 1:10, meaning one worker for every ten slackers in the organization. Deviations from this ratio are looked at unfavourably by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, the Ministry of HRD and the trade unions.
A highly placed official in the Railway Board was happy with the development. He said that now he will finally have a larger team of slackers who will motivate and drive the workers to achieve their best. With a ratio of 1:5, it was increasingly tough for 5 slackers to handle motivation for one worker.
The Railway Recruitment Boards have been asked to act on the decisions right away. Confirmation is expected from the RRBs in 10 days.
The Board has instructed RRBs to prioritize recruitment of Twitter users who respond to every tweet from official Indian Railway handles with demand for govt recruitment exams and hashtags like #Modi_Rojgar_Do. The Board thinks that these users are more likely to be government job enthusiasts and will make for ideal slackers with little training required.
The Railway Board Members and Zonal General Managers, Divisional Railway Managers should speak to public at regular intervals through the media to enlighten and interact with the people. Of the Government organizations, Railways and its employees, come in contact with general public. This should be used for positive developments.
Operating ratio, Energy consumption, including specific energy consumption, traffic handled by railways, both goods and passenger, vis-a-vis, roadways, waterways should also be mentioned. All this should be brought under one set up, in the larger interest.
Rail Post should give positive image as independent and not mouth piece of those in power.
Happy April 1st.. Good one
Certain points:
1. Passengers may be asked to take over the selling of pantry car food to other passengers. Those with no known cooking skills may be asked to take over as cooks in pantry cars. This will ensure that the quality and taste of food is maintained
2. Other passengers may be asked to take over as Ticket Examiners, coach attendants and tea vendors
Couldn’t control my laughter.