After almost a decade and a half
railways is back with a mainline political party. And promptly did I see a news
item crediting the top guy with the idea of raising fares during
the tenure of Dinesh Trivedi, an idea that was promptly shot down along with the
minister by the didi. And that made me wonder as to why the bravehearts who
dived under the cot then, are now planting stories of their bravery in the
national media. The spinelessness followed by sycophantic behaviour of the
bureaucratic leadership sickens me.
Yet, the fact remains that the
transfer of the railways to a mainline party augurs well for the monolith that despite
being disabled and deflated by its own bureaucrats still remains the most visible
symbol of dynamic delivery in a nation, now known only for its scams and
delivery failures.
A mainline minister would do us a
lot of good, provided the octopus bureaucracy of the railways lets him and not
leads him up the path to nowhere.
The fundamental problem with the
railways is its bureaucracy, a bureaucracy that feeds on its constituents, a
bureaucracy that regards all subordinates as untrustworthy and all superiors as
worthy of worship, a scenario one is unable to avoid even at the apex levels. A
bureaucracy that regards as blasphemous even offering advice to its own
ministers, yet unfailingly and with amazing regularity shoves advice sans
support to all lower levels. “Lick above and kick below” has unfortunately
become the motto of the senior bureaucracy in this organization.
Perhaps the biggest battle that
the new minister would have to wage is against a mediocre run of the mill bureaucratic
establishment. Funds would necessitate a
mere stroke of a pen, but changing the mindset of an almost dead, yet deadly
bureaucracy would perhaps be the real challenge for the new minister.
