The Minister of Railways, Mamata Banerjee has said that Indian Railways work round the clock just like an army where every moment matters and every operation needs to be done in a disciplined manner. She said that safety of passengers cannot be compromised. It is always to be given top priority. There should be periodical review and inspection to ensure that all safety related activities are done as per the rules. The Minister stated this while addressing the two-day conference of General Managers of all Zonal Railways and Production Units which began here today. She said that maintenance of rolling stock especially coaches, wagons and engines is quite important and no laxity on this should be tolerated as it is related to safety. She said that steps must be initiated to finally install safety devices like TPWS, ACD, Fog Safe Devices etc. in a fixed time frame manner. Expressing concern over the recent increase in the cases of derailment, she said that engineering department needs to look into this aspect more intensely and carefully and ensure that all their activities like track maintenance, equipment maintenance, rolling stock maintenance is done effectively and timely.
Emphasizing the need to maintain best punctuality in running of the trains, the Minister said that monitoring of punctuality should continue to be undertaken vigorously at all levels which include Railway Board level, Zonal Railway level and Divisional Railway level. She said that a core group must be set up by General Managers to monitor punctuality to review it on daily basis.
Complimenting the Railway Board under the chairmanship of Shri Vivek Sahai and the entire railway family for working hard to improve functioning of Railway System in all sectors, the Minister said that the same zeal should continue to be exhibited in meeting aspirations of all railway users.
Referring to delays in execution of some of the projects, the Minister pointed out that General Managers should monitor it personally and review the performance of contractors from time to time to ensure early completion of the projects.
Referring to the functioning of Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO), the Minister said that RDSO needs to further improve its functioning and system in the most effective and transparent manner so that the best quality and reliability is ensured on all equipments and products before introducing them on Indian Railway network
Referring to the freight loading, she said that while it is true that Railway freight loading suffered set back due to some factors beyond Railways’ control like iron ore loading problems in Orissa and Karnataka, General Managers must, however, continue to improve freight loading and ensure better movement of goods trains by removing detention delays etc. She said that there should be more surprised visits and inspections at all levels for improving functioning in all the sectors. Referring to the new Catering Policy, she said that more and more trains should be taken over early by departmental catering system.
She said that the targets announced in the Railway Budget should be completed within the current financial year. Mamata Banerjee said that the new trains which were announced in the Railway Budget should be run without any delay on priority basis for the convenience of the general public.
Referring to the Production Units like Integral Coach Factory (ICF) and Rail Coach Factory (RCF), the Minister called upon them to work hard to meet their production targets as the coaches are required in a big way. She said that vigilance department should continue to work effectively at all levels including Railway Board, Zones and Divisions to prevent corrupt practices, if any.
Referring to the excellent performance of Indian Railway players in recently held Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, the Minister said that the Indian Railway should continue to promote sports and culture. She said that it is necessary to provide service with a smile maintaining good public dealings. It is necessary to listen to public grievances, address them effectively and create sound mechanism to ensure best passenger friendly measures.
The Minister announced that Zones and Divisions showing good performance will be suitably rewarded and awards for this purpose will be instituted soon. She called upon General Mangers to activate their public relation set-up to project the good work being done by their respective Railways. She said that the scrap disposal management should also be done in a fixed time frame manner so as to boost the earnings of the Railways.
Speaking on the occasion, Minister of State for Railways, Shri K. H. Muniyappa said that safety should be given top priority by the Railways. Therefore, all avoidable accidents in general and accidents due to human failure in particular should be brought down expeditiously. Shri Muniyappa said that General Managers should pay special attention to quality of inspections and night inspections so that complacency does not set in. He said that security of the passengers should also be given prime importance. Shri Muniyappa said that in view of the perceived security threats in Railway premises, the General Managers should take action to get the sanctioned works for providing Integrated Security System completed on priority. These works are necessary to strengthen surveillance mechanism over sensitive and vulnerable stations. He said that a systematic approach has to be made to maintain cleanliness of high standards in the railway station adopting latest technology and regular monitoring. He said that it is very important that all the welfare measures announced for the employees were pursued in right earnest. Shri Muniyappa said that guidelines should be formulated to attract more and more private investment.
Speaking on the occasion, the new Minister of State for Railways, Shri Bharatsinh Solanki who took charge of his office today, said that Indian Railways with a very vast network and a huge workforce, has to effectively meet the aspirations of the people specially the common people. Shri Solanki said that the country’s GDP is growing at 9 – 10 per cent and Railways need to match this growth and develop itself to meet the transportation needs of the growing economy. He said that Railways functioning requires team work and hence everybody has to work hard to make Railways operation smooth, effective and passenger friendly.
Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Vivek Sahai in the beginning of the General Managers Conference outlined the detailed agenda of the conference. He reviewed zone wise performance on each sector. He emphasized that it is necessary to meet the targets, to maintain close monitoring at the General Managers’ level and to work towards improving earnings. The Railway Boards Members Shri Samar Jha (Financial Commissioner), Shri A. P. Mishra (Member Engineering), Shri Sanjiv Handa (Member Mechanical), Shri V. N. Tripathi (Member Staff), Shri Sudesh Kumar (Member Electrical) were also present on the occasion and addressed the conference on their respective sphere of activities.