Why is it that almost everyone who is a railway babu is unhappy with life in general and official life in particular? Why this organization that once used to be referred to after prefixing a "great" to its name finds itself in a state of utter despair? Why is it that this despair or helplessness is amply visible even in the senior echelons of the organization, who despite finding themselves utterly helpless, merrily cling to the chair in the hope of self gratification of the materialistic kind?
Why is it that the senior management who should generally find solace in leading the organization, to its glory or its doom searches for self actualization in ridiculing its subordinates or in materialistic gains of the of pettiest kind? Why is it that none of us, and I am yet to find one cutting across departments who looks up with pride and expectancy towards those who are expected to lead the organization?
My visit sometime back to a railway area shocked me. While a high moral ground was certainly not expected, the conduct of the masters was definitely bizarre. Vying for attention, humiliating subordinates in public view, seeking gifts and blatant indulgence in acts of petty impropriety was on full display but what really hit one hard was the indulgent acceptance of all this as their fate by the inhabitants of the township.
There is a crying need to restructure the railways and build it and then run it along professional lines. There is a dying necessity to inject or create "railway officers" as the present system of running the organization by departmental officers on petty departmental lines has utterly failed. And there is a need to do the same before a total collapse occurs.There is a pressing need to bring in a radical change in our training systems by focusing on leadership and not merely on mundane technical matters. .
There is a need to focus on land and HR and not merely on one minute punctuality and punishments to staff in accident cases. There is a need to build pride in our men, but pride cannot be built by blatant acts of self aggrandizement by the upper crust, that we are witness to, day in and day out.
Railways and railwaymen are indeed great, else how can one explain the tremendous spectacle of over ten thousand trains criss-crossing this great nation day in and day out, despite the self goal being indulged in by the senior officers of the nine services, routinely and regularly.
Why is it that the senior management who should generally find solace in leading the organization, to its glory or its doom searches for self actualization in ridiculing its subordinates or in materialistic gains of the of pettiest kind? Why is it that none of us, and I am yet to find one cutting across departments who looks up with pride and expectancy towards those who are expected to lead the organization?
My visit sometime back to a railway area shocked me. While a high moral ground was certainly not expected, the conduct of the masters was definitely bizarre. Vying for attention, humiliating subordinates in public view, seeking gifts and blatant indulgence in acts of petty impropriety was on full display but what really hit one hard was the indulgent acceptance of all this as their fate by the inhabitants of the township.
There is a crying need to restructure the railways and build it and then run it along professional lines. There is a dying necessity to inject or create "railway officers" as the present system of running the organization by departmental officers on petty departmental lines has utterly failed. And there is a need to do the same before a total collapse occurs.There is a pressing need to bring in a radical change in our training systems by focusing on leadership and not merely on mundane technical matters. .
There is a need to focus on land and HR and not merely on one minute punctuality and punishments to staff in accident cases. There is a need to build pride in our men, but pride cannot be built by blatant acts of self aggrandizement by the upper crust, that we are witness to, day in and day out.
Railways and railwaymen are indeed great, else how can one explain the tremendous spectacle of over ten thousand trains criss-crossing this great nation day in and day out, despite the self goal being indulged in by the senior officers of the nine services, routinely and regularly.
