No Sir, Its not Squaring One, IR is Worse than What it was Before the Fateful Parivartan Sangoshthi Happened, Part-2
On October 10, we wrote, “No Sir, Its not Squaring One, IR is Worse than What it was Before the Fateful Parivartan Sangoshthi Happened, Part-1”. Effective #withdrawal of the decisions on #services reorganisation on 09.10.2024, which is seen as a knee jerk reaction similar to the decision to unify the services taken in December, 2019. It is important to trace the #trajectory of the decisions to record the flip flops. #Modi ji alerted the nation against the Khan Market Gang (#KMG), but his railway ministers ended up cozying up with them.
In the early morning of Sunday, 27 October, deadly #stampede occurred in Bandra Terminus, Mumbai.
Whereas another train in Bhatinda caught fire:
While on Katni-Bina a loaded goods train parted, and in Sawai Madhopur region goods train derailed.
We also prayed for the well being of passengers on other stations where stampede like situation existed:
Well all in a day, across States and Zones. Can this be dismissed as act of ‘#sabotage’?
What this tells is that IR top management has just failed. Someone now has to take responsibility. Period.
Look at the chronology:
We had alerted the nation about the disruptive potential of the team which surrounded the Railway Minister. We wrote that transfer of #EDME/Chg, #RailwayBoard in just 24 hours of recording the meeting which #Adviser convened, was threatening message to the officers, fall in line. #MRCell ran the show but did not sign or like their names written on file notings.
This period also saw sending #MTRS unceremoniously on leave. Something for which Mr #Vaishnaw did not feel shy to take credit of. Adviser, till he was unceremoniously chucked out did not do anything for which he was brought back fom retirement, but systematically poisoned the very air instead, which this vast organisation of IR breathed. He ensured that complete command chain was upended.
We alerted all those who cared to listen, tweeted and tagged #PMO also that the good work on #Safety done by #NDA government will come undone if such activities of MR Cell under Adviser go unchecked.
Sir, you didn’t square one, you have taken IR way behind conditions of 2019
Today all that happened in name of organisational reform lasting almost five years is this: Every service now has a new name and cadre has become sub-cadre (whatever that means).
Due to the disruption in recruitment caused, which Government of India (#GoI) is now trying to remedy, now #UPSC recruited engineers will come not before 2028-29.
However, the daily dose of accidents which Mr Ashwini Vaishnaw led railway ministry is dishing out is because of another toxic decision taken by Adviser led minister, that of arbitrary policy of empanelment to Level-16 and Level-17 of #IRMS for becoming GM and Members. An arbitrary policy of 360 degree review was instituted and emotional intelligence test using a proprietary test allegedly not adapted for Indian population made sure that hundreds of senior officers were left high and dry.
Level-15 which constitutes the #PHoD level was left disgruntled. Having #GMs junior to their PHoDs and #Members junior to Additional Members ensured that initiative in taking decisions was lost. IR has historically run like armed forces where seniority was at the core of who leads whom. #Engineering officers leading #civil service officers and vice-versa was an accepted and settled norm.
Lack of having UPSC recruited engineers is going to hit Indian Railways (#IR) in a year or two as current branch officers would be past their tenures. Till then it is the mess of IRMS level-16 & Level-17 empanelment which will continue bleeding IR. After couple of years problem will get compounded further. ‘Sagacious’ & ‘wise’ Adviser did not achieve “net-zero” for which he was hired, he achieved “net-negative” for the organisation he had set out to transform. His intervention was like polio virus which has left the organisation crippled forever. He however, did get his PhD from under the guidance of the representative of the firm which was mysteriously awarded a #tender disregarding requirement of personal data of seniormost officers loacalised in India. No one checked if this test was adapted for Indian population. No one looked at the consent part. It was mandatory as the adviser allegedly needed the data for his PhD.
Accidents happening all over the network clearly shows that the #transformation injected poison in the veins of IR which was getting transformed to a cripple as explained above.
Options before the PM
Indian Railways is in such a mess that no new leader can easily set its course right.
#Corruption, #favouritism, unhinged #vigilance have seeped way deep to the branch officer level. This was outcome of unchecked delegation of financial powers to officers who lacked experience and maturity to handle such powers. HQ having excess of #SAG officers and no financial powers meant there was no effective check or balance over divisions. This was compounded by railway board’s direct intervention through #GatiShakti directorate. intervention to the #division level. #DRMs were forced to look away from core divisional functions of safe and punctual train running.
GoI has been forced to go back on each of these decisions, surprisingly, no heads have rolled as yet. This lends #credence to our #hypothesis that it would be the #political executive who will pay the price not the #KMG.
Options before Hon’ble PM are painfully limited. He has to reset and reboot but the system cannot, anymore, go back to December 2019 level. It is important to send message that all that #RailBhawan stood for under Vaishnaw-Kumar duo is not acceptable. For this, #responsibility needs to be fixed on officers who misled the #government. Purge the beneficiaries, even if they have been granted extension. Continuation of #AshwiniVaishnaw as Minister is untenable. As no new minister can handle this massive mess, perhaps, there is no other option but to call back Piyush Goyal. Continued…
Please Read Once Again-
28.08.24: “पार्ट-टाइम मंत्री, ठेके पर चेयरमैन !”
02.09.24: “Reform in Organised Services-Critical Analysis, Part-I”
03.09.24: “Reform in Organised Services-Critical Analysis, Part-II”
08.09.24: “प्रशासनिक समन्वय के अभाव में रेल में अराजकता”
09.09.24: “Modi ji, Please Note-Attack on Vande Bharat by Railwaymen – Fit case of 56(J) and 14(2)”
11.10.24: “Modi ji, Fix responsibility on those who were working without accountability!”
12.10.24: “Yet another accident because no one is accountable”
13.10.24: “IR doesn’t need a reset, it needs clean reboot now – What needs to be done?”