Railway Safety – What is Needed?
Balasore was not result of a recurrent disease, it was result of continued failure of leadership!
If the Hon’ble PM’s constituency can be manipulated, there is no hope of improvement, no matter what Railway Minister says!
Hon’ble PM brought a former bureaucrat to lead the railways, however, by allowing himself to go in clutches of #KMG and vigilance-mafia, he has let entire organisation down!
Mr #AshwiniVaishnaw, Minister for Railways finally got the time between his busy #election-duties and #responsibilities of several ministries and reviewed #railway-safety on Saturday, 25 November 2023.
“Any lapse in respect of safety in operations is not acceptable in any way -Ashwini Vaishnaw”
However, the #feedback from senior officers suggests that it was just another routine-review where the obvious issues were repeated. It is disappointing that the #Minister is still not addressing the #glaring problems within the system he oversees. There are concerns regarding the #360-degree feedback system, the #IRMS, the disregard for senior officers-as they get #bypassed, the support given to questionable practices within the organisation, the #failure to rotate personnel, and the failure to protect officers who prioritise work over politics.
The lack of available #Engineering-officers and the reliance on #promotee-officers who have been stationed in one place for decades have significantly impacted the fair and efficient functioning of the #railway-system. Previous #accidents were blamed on limited resources, but now that resources are no longer a constraint, the #responsibility for failures has shifted to the top leadership.
A senior officer even joked about whether printing #Safety-posters would solve the #Safety-issues. The #demotion of a #GeneralManager to a training institute principal and #OSD/RS, and the demotion of a #Member to Director General of Human Resources (#DGHR), along with the bypassing of numerous senior officers with good performance records, indicate a lack of sound #decision-making and #ethical-leadership on the part of the top #management. This will undoubtedly have a detrimental effect on railway safety.
#SudheerSense and #Safety
Most of the #railway-units have #PHODs who are senior to their #GMs. It seems unrealistic to expect PHODs to be motivated to work under someone who has been junior to them for all these years. The railway system has now become #reliant on #instructions rather than initiative-officers who took initiative have been bypassed, it’s better to play to the gallery and be promoted.
https://twitter.com/Railwhispers/status/1727824763664691561?s=20
#Poor-leadership has resulted in the strengthening of #unions. Officers who seek the support of #Union bosses are now favoured by railway-bosses as well. This sends a clear #message that union leaders and their allies are #untouchable and will always receive #favourable-treatment. As a result, young railway employees are feeling demoralized as their chances of #promotion are diminishing vis-a-vis union supported employees. Lack of #rotation has caused officer ranks to be reduced to the level of #supervisors and #artisans. It is difficult for the #IndianRailways to implement rotation when policies are determined by #KMG.
Failure of 3rd Floor-Unethical Conduct of Top Leadership is Fountainhead of Poor-Safety
It has been almost four months since your #editor provided the #Minister with a list of officers who have been involved in confirmed #irregular and #unethical activities. Despite assurances from highest levels, no action has been taken.
Many officers whose careers have suffered as a result are either retiring or have already retired, while the #Vigilance officers who fabricated false cases are thriving. Why is the #government not taking action against these individuals? In order to instill confidence in the officers who have been wronged, we have suggested reopening the cases handled by #RKJha, #RKRai and #AshokKumar, bringing a #whitepaper and issuing an #apology. However, it seems that these officers who have turned #extortion into an art will continue to be rewarded.
Hon’ble #PrimeMinister brought a former #bureaucrat to lead the railways, however, by allowing himself to go in clutches of #KMG and #vigilance-mafia, he has let entire organisation down. As long as cases of proven #misconduct, as long as the higher authorities remain silent, discussions about #rail-safety are just empty words. If the system does not support those who are right and instead favours #criminals and #incompetent individuals, nothing will change.
We reported the shop-level-feedback from staff council leaders of Prime Minister’s own constituency – #BLW-Varanasi – if this place can be manipulated, there is no hope of improvement, no matter what Minister says. Purchases of #RollingStock and #Signalling tenders, have defied logic. #Balasore was not result of a recurrent #disease, it was result of continued failure of leadership. Why else can same mode of failure keep killing people in 20 years?
Leaving a #Mail/#Express train forgotten for 12 hours on West Central Railway (#WCR) shows how even basic #Train-running is now compromised. #AmritBharat-Station scheme in current shape, like #VandeBharat is all #glamour but low on substance for the end user. Low morale is biggest #unsafe condition on Indian Railways-Minister sahab, the responsibility for this is at your door step.
https://twitter.com/DelhiCanttRail/status/1728742922705924403?s=20
https://twitter.com/Railwhispers/status/1728482243537236299?s=20