Railways Procurement Scam :

Mamata Turns To CBI

BHOPAL : Much to the consternation of corrupt senior officials, Minister for Railways Mamata Banerjee has asked the CBI to investigate corruption in Indian Railways Procurement System. The move comes almost six months after The Statesman reported the nexus between suppliers, the Railway Board, and Research Standard and Design Organization (RDSO) that has siphoned off at least Rs 50,000 crore from the public exchequer over the past decade.

The CBI probe is restricted to corruption in the purchase of 20 items and does not extend to hundreds of others where the same process of restricted competition and grossly inflated prices for kickbacks continues.

Interestingly, the minister’s decision to involve the CBI comes at a time when the Railways' vigilance department appears to have begun achieving some success in its investigations, item by item. Sources in Rail Bhavan have told that a senior director in the Railway Board has been found guilty in the scam surrounding the first item investigated ~ Odour Control Systems ~ by the vigilance department which has recommended the harshest penalty for him. If investigations continue apace, many more skeletons will tumble out of a richly stocked Board closet.

The move to involve the CBI follows questions submitted by MPs in the stalled Parliament session about the scam and the Railways whistleblower Mr Atul Kumar. Listed for oral answer on 10 December in the Rajya Sabha was MP and senior Congress leader Mr Motilal Vora’s question about "the bungling of Rs 10,000 crore by mechanical department every year" and asking for information on "the steps taken by the government so far to ascertain the truth". Mr Vora also asked for names of officials who took bribes from Kolkata-based firm M/s Pioneer Friction.

Despite assurances by Mamta Banerjee early in her tenure and the CBI’s involvement in the the M/s Pioneer Friction case for over a year, no official has yet been named or punished.

Two related questions were also submitted for written answer in the Lok Sabha on 9 December. MPs Mr Vishwa Mohan Kumar and Mr Abdul Rahman asked for statistics on cases of corruption reported in Railways and action taken against officials over the past three years. Lok Sabha MPs Mr Shafiqur Rahman Barq, Mr Ravindra Kumar Pandey, Mr Bhola Singh, and Mr Sanjay Jaiswal jointly asked for details on corruption in procurement, whether suppliers sell articles to Railways at prices much higher than market prices, and the total loss suffered.

Crucially, though, and despite Mamta Banerjee's move to call in the CBI, old and new procurement scams still continue given that the same flawed approval system and Lucknow-based RDSO’s near-total control over it persists. Railways have not announced any changes in procurement policy that would introduce true competition, break cartels and bring down prices.

The recommendations of the Minister for Railways - appointed expert committee on RDSO still remain to be implemented. The committee's recommendations include a complete overhaul of the supplier approval system and a transfer of both approvals and inspections away from RDSO. The expert committee report, which was last heard to be stuck with the Member, Mechanical, Railway Board, for months, is in danger of being swallowed by the bureaucratic black hole.

There are still no cost-estimation cells to determine market prices when new items or specifications are introduced for purchase. "Expressions of interest" still do not get wide publicity so that the most able Indian manufacturers can compete. Works contracts, with even more margin for corruption than supply contracts, have not been brought under e-procurement. And, there is yet no centralised system via which zones can inform each other about rogue firms.

Furthermore, according to Mr Atul Kumar, who first brought the massive scam to the knowledge of the Railway Board, the victimisation has not stopped. Mr Kumar told that after yet another unceremonious transfer, intended to hound him out of Kolkata, he felt forced to apply for VRS. But, with over three months having passed since the application, it appears the Railway Board, unhappy with the exposure, is now not even allowing him to retire.

SAFETY OFF TRACK - I

Railways ignores niggles, passengers suffer pain

Disasters often have precursors in minor accidents. Independent assessment of, and action on, such incidents help prevent major mishaps. But that's not usually the work culture in Indian Railways. While major rail mishaps are invariably subject to independent investigation, probing minor accidents and fixing the niggles to ensure they don't lead to major problems down the line most often fall victim to the curse of "departmentalism".

Departmental loyalties divide the Railways like a caste system, say old hands. Senior officials, in general, would sooner protect the power and prestige of their department at the cost of others than work towards the greater interest of the Railways. The most virulent form of this endemic organisational ailment can be seen in the competition between the Mechanical and Electrical departments, dozens of top retired officials told The Statesman. The result is misguiding of policy and misdirection of hundreds of millions of rupees that the Railways earns in revenue. "This problem is second only to corruption in the magnitude of harm it unleashes," a senior serving official said.

Major railway accidents ~ having at least one fatality and/or losses greater than Rs 25 lakh ~ are investigated independently by a Chief Railways Safety Engineer (CRSE), who reports not to the Railways but to the Chief Commissioner of Railways Safety (CCRS) under the civil aviation department. Although the CRSE can investigate minor accidents too, this rarely happens. Thus, inquiries into minor accidents ~ which include narrow misses, jumped signals, derailments, and collisions ~ fall to individual Railway zones. And zonal probes are routinely compromised by department loyalties.

An ex-Director, Railways Safety, M.G. Arora said in a recent interview: “when an accident is reported, senior officers use a lobbyist within their respective departments to fling allegations at each other in order to save themselves.” How this pans out in real terms, say sources, goes something like this: On reaching an accident site, members of the enquiry team often immediately commence a blame-game, presumably on a principle that attack is the best form of defense. For example, if an electric locomotive is involved, and an enquiry officer is from the Electrical department, then an attempt might be made to pin the fault on a signaling failure, while the signaling official tends to instinctively cite negligence by the cabin staff belonging to the Traffic department. Alternatively, the condition of the track, maintained by the Civil Engineering department, might be apportioned blame. The shape of assessment and action can depend as much on who reaches the spot first and effects a cover-up, as it can on which department the General Manager (GM) belongs to. GM’s are well known to cover-up genuine faults if traced to their “parent department.”

Sources said, a classic case illustrating the vindictive nature of this blame game was of an accident in 2007 ~ a rear-end collision on the Howrah-Kharagpur line close to where a major disaster was averted in the final seconds early this September. A local train, pulled by an electric locomotive, rammed into the Bharat Darshan Express in 2007. Three passengers were injured and two coaches derailed. The enquiry team held the driver of the local train, serving under the Electrical department, responsible for crossing a red signal. The driver insisted the signal showed green. The enquiry report recommended suspension and removal of the driver. The GM accepted the recommendation, but went further. Not only was the driver removed, an Assistant Electrical Engineer (AEE) was suspended and a Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (DEE) transferred. Whilst outsiders may think of this as an example of strong and necessary punitive action, Railway personnel across the board saw only the GM, belonging to the Mechanical department, not having missed an opportunity to attack the arch enemy, the Electrical department.

A few months later something curious occurred. Passing through the Bharat Darshan collision section, another train driver noticed that a signal for an adjoining line stayed green even after a train had passed it. A joint inspection committee was shocked to find no ‘track-circuit’ for a 460 meter stretch. Without a track circuit, a signal won’t turn red even after a train has passed it. Such a glaring signaling error could not be suppressed. The GM was forced to recant. The AEE was immediately reinstated, and the Sr. DEE was given an award to mollify a livid Electrical department. The suspended driver submitted a mercy petition, and was reinstated. No one, however, questioned the reason behind the original enquiry committee’s glaring mistake, a lapse that could have caused a major disaster. Officials point out, though, that had the GM belonged to the Signaling department the entire story might have been turned on its head.

Unlike minor accidents, major ones are independently investigated by a CRSE. However, even the action taken in these cases is not free from the scourge of departmentalism. For, just as the Safety department within Railways serves only as an advisory body, the CRSE’s report on major accidents can only recommend action not enforce it. When submitted to the Railway Board, a report recommending action on a major accident has itself led to flare-ups of departmental passions in the past. Officials indicted have been spared harsh punishment, protected by their departmental guardians on the Board.

The next major accident will again bring its ritual of bureaucrats hiding behind the Railway Minister, who being a politician will be expected to take the flak and rightly so. Perhaps it’s time for Miss Mamata Banerjee, who told Parliament that the Minister’s job is to take policy decisions and decide on administrative matters, to ensure her administrative vision prioritizes systemic reform to mitigate the departmental wars that are bleeding the Railways and its users.

SAFETY OFF TRACK - II

It’s always spring time for corruption

The Mumbai suburban railways network kills around 4,000 people annually. In 2008, 4,357 people died along this city lifeline. A majority were mowed down crossing tracks. But, as many as 853, i.e. 20 per cent, or an average of two to three people each day, were passengers who died as they fell off moving trains. In peak hours, coaches are often filled to three times their capacity. Violent jerks can send those precariously perched tumbling to their death. A train part called the "air spring", which undergirds coaches and wagons, plays an important role in preventing these jerks. Air springs are a crucial safety item, vital for reducing jerks, easing load, and increasing the life-span of tracks and rolling stock.

No item, however, even when crucial to passenger safety, is beyond supplier-bureaucrat corruption that has leeched away over Rs 50,000 crore in the past decade. Violating its own rules, Indian Railways has been favouring certain suppliers and purchasing sub-standard air springs.

In 2007, Railways began replacing older kinds of springs, called helical springs, with new kinds of air springs that met international standards. Suburban trains were first selected for the switch because suburban coaches experience maximum variation in load. The new springs will soon be installed throughout the rail network because of ~ at least in part ~ the damage caused by Mr Lalu Yadav's profit-maximising wagon (over)loading policy, which has, along with accounting jugglery, been central to the Railways so-called turnaround story. The 2010 CAG report shows that wagon overloading has more than tripled dysfunction and defects in springs, couplers, draft gears, wagon bodies, track structures, and greatly escalated rail fractures and weld failures. Such is the weight of each loaded wagon today that, according to the report, even additional improved helical springs have not stemmed the damage. The switch to the new international standard spring appears therefore to be essential for safety.

These new springs have, however, arrived in an unwelcome bureaucratic environment, far more interested in kickbacks than quality to ensure safety. The moment the decision to go for the upgrade was taken, the Railways Research Design Standards Organisation (RDSO) instantly swung into action with its favourite licensing game. According to sources, RDSO advertised no "expression of interest" with details of future air spring requirement, something that might attract the most able Indian manufacturers to develop the product. Quite like the spectrum scam's first-come-first-served distribution of 2G bandwidth to chosen companies, RDSO handed licenses to a select group of Indian middlemen who mainly import the springs from foreign companies. As the agents had limited to nil manufacturing capacity, RDSO clubbed them into an undefined special category termed "source under development". How does this differ from RDSO's prevailing (Part II developmental source) category? Officials involved in actual purchase do not have a clue.

Prudence calls for avoiding bulk purchases when there are few credible sources from which to procure an item. However, within two years of the first tender, Integral Coach Factory (ICF) has bought Rs 60 crore worth of safety springs from these agents. From the very first ICF tender in November 2007, irregularities abounded. Though all agents were grouped equally and the tender didn't pre-disclose any multi-sourcing clause, an agent of a US company was given the order at nearly Rs 50,000 per unit higher than the lowest bidder. The ambiguous RDSO category had begun a "divide the pie amongst the cartel" game. Irregularities intensified in the second and third ICF tenders. An Indian agent of a Chinese company was upgraded as a Part II source by RDSO, even though the agent had not fulfilled mandatory service trials for that type of spring. The third tender was awarded at a markedly higher rate to the same agent, even though lower prices from the previous contract were still valid.

In all nine approval letters handed out, RDSO informed agents to "indigenise" the manufacture of the air spring. Highly placed sources have told The Statesman that most of the agents, though, still import the entire spring; exceptions just about manage to assemble the imported parts. Particularly disconcerting to some officials is the volume of low-quality Chinese air-springs purchased. The sources supplying the Chinese air springs being ‘developed’ include Lucknow-based firms presently undergoing investigation for selling the Railways equipments and parts worth hundreds of crores at exorbitant cartel-inflated prices.

Another source said one of approved firms was earlier banned from supplying helical springs due to quality defects. How then has this firm been found suitable to develop the new safety technology? What decidedly betrays the Railways’ alleged concern for safety is a letter written by RDSO in March 2009. It shows the prime beneficiary of new air spring contracts at ICF as the biggest quality defaulter! On one hand RDSO has been threatening the firm with dire consequences because of defects of a ‘serious nature’ for over two years, and on the other it has no qualms about rewarding the firm by upgrading it to a valued source.

Replying to a question in Parliament about thousands of deaths along the Mumbai network, the Railway Minister has stated that it is an issue of congestion, and therefore a state government issue. Congestion, limited infrastructure to enable safe passage, and apathy are certainly the primary factors in most deaths on the Mumbai network. And the state government is culpable. But, rampant corruption in procurement suggests that the ministry too needs crack down on the corruption its officials seem to be mired in which contributes to the problem.

The ‘tak-tak’ sound that emanates from coaches rolling along the Mumbai lines is the sound of compromised air-springs straining under the weight of commuters. Few hear in it a haunting noise that might contribute to the next passenger falling to his death.

SAFETY OFF TRACK - III

No walking the talk on walkie-talkies

What bullet-proof jackets are to law enforcement officers, walkie-talkies are to Indian Railway drivers and guards: The last resort for preventing a tragedy. Few items are more critical to Railways safety than walkie-talkies. They provide an emergency communication option to avert disaster or immediately summon an Accident Relief Train (ART) in case of a mishap. Compromising on the quality of this instrument by tampering with its purchase process can lead to more blood on the tracks. But does that put at least walkie-talkies beyond corruption? Apparently not.

The Statesman's investigations reveal that the Railways have a shocking history of corruption in the purchase of walkie-talkies ~ thousands of defective sets have allegedly been purchased and put to use over the past decade.

Railways began mass-procurement of walkie-talkies in the aftermath of the 1999 Gaisal accident, an incident that led to Mr Nitish Kumar's resignation as minister. Many lakh instruments worth hundreds of crore of rupees have since been purchased by the Railways via the Rate Contract (RC) through the Directorate General of Supplies & Disposals (DGS&D), a procedure wherein prices are set annually.

Highly placed sources said corruption in walkie-talkie procurement begins with the registration of suppliers at DGS&D and resurfaces during quality inspections. Particular to Railways, suppliers give bribes at the division-level to generate a demand, at the zonal level where technical suitability is recommended and orders placed, and again at the division-level at delivery time. Suppliers have agents across zones that negotiate percentages. Without bribes to officials, which aggregate close to 10 per cent of purchase value according to a senior official, no instrument can be supplied to Railways. Fixed prices and the burden of bribes have created fertile conditions for suppliers to compromise on quality, a well-respected retired official said on condition of anonymity.

Research Design & Standards Organisation (RDSO), central to most procurement rackets in Railways, has no business, as it were, in the DGS&D Rate Contract. However, according to sources, under the guise of checking instrument quality against a "military standard", senior telecom officials at RDSO have also allegedly extracted several rounds of bribes from walkie-talkie suppliers in the past year. RCs are safer for zonal officers to favour one supplier over another. Unlike tendering, RCs leave fewer incriminating paper trails. Initial quality inspections fall under DGS&D and complaints of even widespread defects can be "managed". The Statesman's discussions with drivers and field-staff reveal that sets supplied by particular firms have shown consistent defects. But even if complaints get documented, files are easily suppressed within zones.

The Statesman accessed one such suppressed file from the auditing department involving the purchase of thousands of sets in a zone from M/s Transceivers India. Nearly 50 per cent of these sets turned out defective, a fact that might have played a part in at least three rail accidents. According to the audit documents, in 1999, ignoring the warnings of the zonal Chief Signal & Telecom Engineer (CSTE) that such an act is "likely to put Railways in serious problem (sic)"', the Controller of Stores (COS) gave precedence to the technical opinion of a junior official and placed an order with M/s Transceivers India for 1,750 walkie-talkies. The CSTE's warning was that M/s Transceivers was only a trader, not backed by the original Taiwanese manufacturer, and therefore unreliable. Despite the issue reaching the GM, the CSTE's advice was ignored.

Soon after delivery, complaints of severe defects in hundreds of sets started pouring in from the field. A long-list of electronic defects apart, rubber bands had to be employed to keep batteries from slipping out. Some train drivers simply stopped using the walkie-talkies.

Shortly thereafter, the CSTE was transferred out. The new CSTE not only ignored the field reports, but curiously began praising the additional features M/s Transceivers was offering. Multiple orders resulted, which placed one malfunctioning set after another in the hands of drivers. Between August 1999 and July 2000, out of 5,714 M/s Transceivers sets costing nearly Rs 8 crore, 2,553 sets ended up unusable. So well protected was the trader that attempts at set replacement came to naught.

The CAG began following the case in 2005. Despite gathering incriminating evidence, the internal audit has still not been finalised and tabled in Parliament. The provisional report states that three accident inquiries of the time-period "reveal the absence or malfunctioning" of walkie-talkies. All the responses to the audit by Railways officials, sometimes delayed by years, are a master class on bureaucratic evasion, ranging from nitpicking to outright denial. By 2008, one Railways official was even arguing that all "5714 sets are in circulation and still in use" and that there is no reason for disciplinary action as "no individual is responsible".

The officials responsible climbed to the top of the Railways hierarchy. The COS, who dumped the technical advice of the earlier CSTE, rose in seniority, retired as Advisor Stores Railway Board, and today sits on a committee mandated to revamp stores procedures! The CSTE, who ignored the complaints from the field and bought thousands of more sets from the same firm, also had a rapid professional rise. A Mr Lalu Prasad favourite, he became GM of a zone and retired as Member Electrical, Railway Board, the second highest bureaucratic post in Railways.

An Open Letter

To All Concerned Dated: 30^th November, 2010

Sub: Continuing colossal leakage of upwards of Rs. 5000 crores per year, increasing year after year, through procurement of material in Railways, having caused an estimated loss of Rs. 50000 crores in last decade and estimated to cause further loss of above Rs. 100000 (one lakh) crores in next decade to public exchequer.

Necessity for this letter: Issue of this letter has now become necessary because Railways instead of attending to the issues fairly and objectively have launched into my all-out victimization and character assassination.

How the issues stand out in comparison to various scams rocking the nation: The issues being talked about are much more important than the CWG and Adarsh Housing Society scams recently having stirred the consciousness of the nation for the sheer volume of leakage involved. These are more important than the 2-G Spectrum scam in the sense that it is not shouting about a colossal loss after same having taken place but about preventing even greater loss in the coming decades, same being continuing with abandon as of now. The implication will be of the order of Rupees 10000 crores per year within next couple of years. I never raised the issues as a cry about corruption or for holding individuals responsible but for necessary systemic corrections. But media at large, unfortunately, has not taken much interest probably since the issues, howsoever important these could be, have been raised by an ordinary citizen of no-consequence and don't have any political force or money-bags behind to pursue these.

Issues and Media so far: I had brought out two important and major issues-interrelated- to the notice of apex Railway Administration through a well documented letter dated 24th March, 2010 (the crux of the issues was first raised by The Statesman in year 2008 as mentioned in my letter, and followed within the organization by me since then).

1. Leakage of Railway and public revenue to the extent of about Rs. 5000 crores year after year through cartels of pre-approved vendors as per existing material procurement system in Indian Railways, continuing for over a decade.

2. Non creation of the posts of Member Material Management and Member(S&T) by the successive Railway Boards for last ten years in spite of same having been mandated by the Vth pay commission on recommendations of various parliamentary committees, and having been ordered for creation by various Railway Ministers in the interim.

The two issues are inter-related as has been brought out in my letter. Since procurement in Railways suffers from being under control of one of the consumers i.e. Member Mechanical and not being under control of a professional head i.e. Member Material Management.

These issues were then brought to the notice of whole nation through a series of reports in the national daily 'The Statesman' based on documents and data available and past CAG reports, in end June, followed by my interview dated 11/08/2010 and a strong editorial soon after. The simple possible corrective measures were also suggested. In the meantime, 'Rail Samachar' published from Mumbai reported the first issue and continues to report in the matter.

In mid September, only the first issue was highlighted by a prime English news channel, 'NDTV 24x7', using my bytes and was quickly forgotten. On 15/11/10, a major Hindi daily of Northern India highlighted the issue effectively but misquoting me in a way I had never intended. They then promptly followed it up with my character assassination at the behest of the Railways, finding it convenient not to mention or publish my rejoinder to the ridiculous and childish efforts of the Railways. Very quickly issue was converted into that of my character rather than the avoidable colossal leakage of the public money. On the 15^th evening, in Mumbai, two national Hindi news channels also approached me and took my interview for using my bytes. One of the channels, I learn, started broadcasting the story the next evening and immediately took it off the air. Having become wiser, I requested the other channel not to use my bytes. It appears the implication of a number of journalists in ‘Radia’ tapes is not an aberration.

Understanding the key issues in a simple way: Majority of Railways purchases, to the tune of approximately Rs. 20000 crores per year at present, are made from limited private vendors pre-approved by the Railways. And then these sources dictate the prices at which Railways buy from them and allow themselves to get fleeced by astronomical sums, a cautious estimation now being more than 50% on an average of what would be reasonable prices based on cost estimation. It is all so simple ~ to be evident to a teenager ~ but incomprehensible and invisible to the top bureaucrats of a top organization of a top democracy over decades. No organization worth its name in the world will allow it but Indian Railways do so gleefully year after year. Towards that end the Railway Board Members won’t let the post of Member Material Management to materialize even though the same has the mandate of the Government for last one decade. They fear that the Member Material Management could bring out evidently necessary policy corrections in Railways’ procurement system, and would dilute their powers. No doubt, the figure of Rs. 10000 crores per year is debatable, but no doubt the leakage occurring is of the order of a good many thousands of crores of rupees year after year, as a result of absurd procurement systems and practices in Indian Railways.

Action/Reaction by the apex Railway Administration so far:

1. My letter has not even been acknowledged by the Railway hierarchy till date as if it does not exist and no one from apex Railway administration has ever spoken to me on the issues.
2. The Railway Minister applauded the reports in The Statesman for objectivity and analysis saying Railways had learnt from those reports. Everyone clapped.
3. Vigilance investigations have been initiated, as is the norm, deadline of which has already been shot many times over.
4. In the meantime, pending investigations, though obvious to everyone in the organization, the loot continues.
5. Serious action is on under the very nose of the same Minister who had applauded the reports, on one front, though– to fix the whistleblower for good for world to see such that no one in future should dare to think of public good and giving suggestions to the infallible authorities.
6. Posts of two more Members- out of question- existing Board can’t allow dilution of powers of existing Members – balls to parliamentary committees and mandate of the Government.

What was called for: While bringing out the issues, some glaring examples have been given. My purpose has never been any vilification but to seek systemic corrections. In fact as per existing system and practice, almost each high-value purchase from pre-approved private vendors, may be with some exceptions, is a scam in itself and thousands of such purchases are made over Indian Railways every year. It will be impossible to investigate all such purchases. Therefore the matter is one requiring necessary policy corrections much more than ordering vigilance investigations. Ordering investigations and allowing the leakage to continue side by side is akin to ordering investigation into a razing fire and not taking any action to extinguish it.

The Tragedy: Normally one would expect to be valued by an organization for the courage, intellect and industry required to bring out the issues involving such large financial implications. But the archaic and feudal apex Railway administration instead of utilizing my services for the betterment of the organization, has decided that I had to be taught a lesson. I took up the issues duly fearing this reaction, at the cost of my own well-being knowingly, since at stake were astronomical sums of public money year after year. Tragedy is not that my well-being remains seriously threatened, but that the ever-increasing colossal leakage of public money still continues.

Summary: A systemic leakage of thousands of crores of rupees every year is currently taking place in Railway procurement. The officer pointing it out and suggesting simple and implementable solutions for its arrest, rather than being rewarded, is not only being victimized but being liquidated in broad daylight, by very those who are allowing the loot to continue on the other hand. The Minister and the Media ~ always on high moral ground ~ are quite happy looking the other way. The hypocrisy is at its very best. This is real ‘corporate India’ or ‘capitalist India’.

Hope from this letter: I am issuing this letter (shall also be posting it on my blog) not with much hope, as it will be fool-hardy to have any hope after my recent experiences and seeing other developments all around, but for record for posterity.

It is a foregone conclusion that the loot will not only continue but multiply. Media will act its own way, the least said the better. The concerned Ministry will continue to hide behind snail-paced investigations, bureaucratic jargons, officialdom and my character assassination, driving sadistic pleasure at the same time from my liquidation. Mahatma Gandhis will no more turn in their graves as they would have been dead tired of same by now. It is a foregone conclusion that Vinod Duas, Arvind Kejriwals, Kiran Bedis, Arnab Goswamis, Chetan Bhagats and Rajinder Puris will continue to ‘turn’ live on channels and in print while nothing else will ‘turn’ anywhere. The opposition will weigh its own vested interests deliberating whether to be or not to be, and I may soon meet my own end (everyone has to meet one's end one day, so no complaints), keeping in with the fate of many a whistleblower in 'incredible' India. Some murdered, some driven to suicide- unable to bear their sustained harassment and persecution any more by the government of the ‘people’ for whose very cause they stood up. As an optimist, I do hope Yossarian (Catch-22) lives but I don’t feel optimistic.

Apologies: My apologies to my family for having been an utter fool and having let them down. My apologies to the hundreds of suppliers approved by production units and RDSO whose interests, thankfully, were not hurt by my childish attempts. My apologies to thousands of other vendors who couldn’t get themselves approved and couldn’t fight for their own cause. My apologies to the apex Railway administration for having wasted their time and energy for nothing but my liquidation. My apologies to Stores and S&T officers of Indian Railways for having dared to fight single-handedly for their cause and having over-estimated their team spirit. My apologies to Indian media for having wasted their time and energy (including this release) for issues which were ultimately to be decided to be non-issues by them. Last but not the least, my apologies to Indian public about whose money I started bothering.

Adieu.

(Atul Kumar)

(Ex-COS/Metro Railway, Kolkata)

and

An ordinary citizen of india.

Western Railway blames new-age trains for delays in pending projects

MUMBAI : Western Railway (WR) general manager Ravindra Nath Verma on Tuesday blamed new-age local trains for delays in completion of all pending projects and worsening punctuality.

“Initially, there were major problems with the new-age local trains acquired under the Mumbai Urban Transport Project. The trains used to stop suddenly in the middle of their journey. We told the company involved that it was a national shame for trains to stop like this as it had never happened in our 150 years’ history. The problem was subsequently solved. This, however, led to a delay in projects and collapsed the entire planning,” Verma said.

When asked about punctuality, he blamed the new trains and the motormen issue. He also said that the upgradation of power supply near Borivli led to initial technical problems.

On the bright side, he said that 45 existing nine-car services will soon be converted into 12-car ones. Of these, 21 will be Borivli, 19 Andheri, three Bandra and two Malad services. With this, WR will be able to carry 2 lakh passengers more.

He did not give specific deadlines for any pending projects, like the opening of the Virar-Dahanu line for suburban traffic, upgradation of power or introduction of any new services.

Asked about plying suburban trains to Dahanu, Verma said that there weren’t enough trains and that it can be done only by next year. Speaking on the upgradation of power supply, he said that the WR will try and complete the same by June 2011, but there were several factors. The harbour line on Central Railway, too, would have to upgrade its power supply.

Speaking on trespassing, he said that WR had proposed two flyovers between Goregaon and Jogeshwari stations so that three of the five level-crossings can be closed. He said the WR had recently provided eight foot over-bridges and nine more had been sanctioned. He also said that work for raising the level of platforms had been completed at 21 platforms while it is in progress at nine platforms.

Discussing 15-car rakes, which will come up to Churchgate by January-end, WR officials said they are looking at getting the trains to halt at all stations between the terminus and Mumbai Central. They are looking at extending platforms at stations where the yard need not be remodelled. In the stretch, there is a problem only at Charni Road station.

He also said that the railways were studying an elevated corridor over the existing rail network.