There is an outcry in the Railway, save it Modi ji – An Appeal to Hon’ble PM to save Indian Railways!

Hon’ble #PrimeMinister Modi ji, your support for the #railways has been unprecedented during your prime ministerial tenure. However, it is worth considering that #road and #waterways have shown more visible results despite receiving less support. This raises the question of why this has been the case!

With so much of #investments, your popular #voter is dying in railway #accidents, #stampedes, getting #killed inside coaches, getting #sick inside coaches all the while, bleeding-market share and slowing-down. Have you wondered why accidents have started to increase? Why despite more powerful #electric locomotives, average speeds are coming down?

Reason is in #leadership !

The ongoing changes in top leadership have resulted in a decline in #morale. The #Minister has delegated #decision-making authority to a select group called “Khan Market Gang” (#KMG) in the Indian Railways. We are aware that your office has been referring to our #KMG series to assess popular sentiment. However, it is now necessary for you to step in. Previously, the railway system operated efficiently with #leaders who commanded respect from their #subordinates, similar to the armed forces. This level of #discipline is crucial for the smooth functioning of the railways. Unfortunately, when #inexperienced officers are given #authority over those with valuable #field-experience, it is over all morale that has suffered-

How Can Leaders with Broken Morale Deliver Safety

The #inefficient and #incompetent are being supported, as evidenced by the #Madhepura saga. Following your matra of leveraging volumes and scale through reverse auctions, Indian Railways’ factories have managed to lower prices of #coaches and #locomotives they produce. This achievement should be acknowledged to your credit.

However, the #creation of factories with acute #SudheerSense has proven to be problematic. Every year, the costs increase while the performance of the locomotives is best left unmentioned – it is actually quite #scandalous.

An #example of forgetting basic #train-running is the recent incident of a train being stranded on the main line for 12 hours, which should be considered as serious as an #accident.

Take a closer look at another aspect – the #Vigilance department of the #IndianRailways (IR). The #incident involving the #VandeBharat team serves as a clear example. For a long time, vigilance has been misused by unscrupulous officers. It is puzzling why the current railway-leadership has not only shielded but also promoted the members of the infamous #RKJha, #RKRai and #AshokKumar group?

Did you know that the #RailwayBoard and #Zonal leadership are well aware of the #documentary evidence published in this #NewsPortal regarding senior officers involved in conducting #business on #IREPS? #Vigilance has destroyed the careers of many officers, yet these #wrongdoers are still being protected like hired assassins.

Please Read- फजीहत

Please Read- What is Beyond Reasonable Doubt

Please Read- What is Beyond Reasonable Doubt? Part-II

The existing railway-leadership has #failed to comprehend the misguided intentions of the #KMG, resulting in irreversible harm to the Indian Railways. The entire #Railway-system is now being treated as a #personal-estate, where senior officers are mere pawns. The #institutional-framework has been utterly dismantled, showcasing a #dictatorial-attitude that even #MogulKings and #Britishers might not exhibit. #Established-rules have been discarded and replaced by #whimsical, #arbitrary, and, #worse, #discriminatory practices. #Objectivity, #transparency, #trust, and #fairness have all become #casualties in this #environment. Bullying and #public-humiliation of senior officers have become commonplace, with notable examples as follows:

  1. The then Member, Traction & Rolling Stock (#MTRS) Mr. Rahul Jain was publicly humiliated and compelled to resign.
  2. The then #DGSafety Mr. Ravindra Gupta was coerced into resigning.
  3. The then #AdditionalMember (S&T) Mr. Rahul Agarwal was removed and sidelined without any assigned work.
  4. The then Additional Member (#Stores) Mr. Rajiv Saxena was forced to resign.
  5. The then GM/RWF Mr. Ajay Kumar Dubey was forced to tender his resignation.
  6. The then #GMNER Mr. C V Raman was abruptly removed and assigned to a newly created position with no responsibilities.
  7. The then #GMNFR/Construction was suddenly removed and relegated to oblivion in a newly created role with no assigned tasks.
  8. The current #Member, Traction & Rolling Stock Mr. Naveen Gulati is also facing removal.
  9. An #IRTS officer, who was found #unfit and #unsuitable for lower-level position and also lost two successive review on her appeal few months ago, is now declared #suitable for a higher-level Board’s Member role.
  10. An officer with no experience as #ADRM or #DRM is being appointed as #GM in a significant open line, while an officer with ADRM and DRM #experience is being posted in an organization slated for closure on 31.12.2023.
  11. After a long time Mr. Manoj Akhauri appointed as DG/NAIR only for two months but there was no chamber and work. Now another officer given appointed for the same post.
  12. GMs are appointed for 2 months, 9 and 11 months. An officer appointed only for 24 hours on GM level and retired.
  13. Whereas some GMs were forcibly prevented from taking VRS or resigning, so that the present leadership would not be defamed.
  14. All #PHODs of the 1986 and 1987 batches are profoundly demoralized, not doing their work, no motivation for their workforce, as their #career-prospects are completely obstructed. They have absolutely no #future-prospect as their channel of #promotion is completely blocked.
  15. Under the guise of #system-improvement, policies have been revised to force many #senior officers to work directly under their #juniors, causing significant harm to #discipline. For instance, within a comparatively compact organization such as #RDSO, the #DirectorGeneral, a member of the 1987 batch, presides over six officers from the senior 1986 batch. They are coerced to work under him without any clarity on their alleged shortcomings.
  16. The #promotion and #posting of top management are entirely #arbitrary and lack #transparency, leaving everyone in a state of confusion and clueless.
  17. The #Corruption and above list is endless in the railways.

Due to this #institutional-destruction, the Indian Railways is witnessing a #sharp-decline in every aspect of its #operations, including #Safety and #punctuality. #Passengers are now compelled to travel in overcrowded trains under deplorable conditions. While the impacted officers endure their suffering in silence or with forced smiles, others remain quiet out of fear, presuming that such #injustices won’t be fall them. This #silence reflects a lack of #courage, rendering them virtually #spineless, unable to raise their voices against the #mistreatment of their colleagues, who are systematically targeted for unfair #treatment, one by one.

Hon’ble PM Sir, “if a #football-referee redcards every #player, who pushes, shoves or puts a foot across another speeding player without taking a practical, discretionary or moral call on these violations, the field will soon be empty of players and the game will come to a stop. It is not easy to take such #discretion-calls, but doing that makes a great-referee. He could as well throw out all players and can simultaneously throw the rule book at the organisers. But, the game is over no sooner than it started. All within rules, except that there will no game and consequently no rules to be applied anymore”.

In these circumstances, it is crucial to recall the words of Rashtrakavi Maithili Sharan Gupt and Ramdhari Singh ’Dinkar’-

अधिकार खोकर बैठना, यह महादुष्कर्म है।
न्यायार्थ हेतु बंधु को भी दंड देना धर्म है॥
यह न समझना, पापकर्म का भागी केवल व्याध।
जो तटस्थ हैं, समय लिखेगा उनका भी अपराध॥

We #earnestly request the Hon’ble Prime Minister to address these issues promptly to prevent further #deterioration of the #IndianRailway. Kindly intervene with the current leadership to refrain from behaving like #autocratic-rulers and safeguard the interests of this vital national institution.

Compiled & Edited By Suresh Tripathi