Apropos The Great Railway Bazaar (Apr 02), any article on the railways would unfortunately reflect the bias of the railway “source” feeding the information. As there are so many departments, each holding on to their empire, it ends up being like the story of the elephant and the ten blind men. For instance, why have a member, PPP, when you have a full-fledged procurement department dealing in contracts; why have a member, safety, when you have hundreds of safety officers under member, transportation. While it is correct to question the logic of using PPPs in the area of rolling stock manufacture (Mamata saw through the game and mercifully stopped it in time), it has its place in station upkeep, development of railway land (and not on the first-come, first-served basis popularised by modern kings). Sam Pitroda or other experts go only by the superficial inputs of interested parties. There are enough reports based on intensive analysis (the RRC report of Scindia’s time, for instance, or the Sarin committee). The new expert committees should do only a desk review of such old reports.

Santhanam Krishnan, on e-mail

The working of the Rail Land Development Authority, created specifically to unlock value from the railways’ immense land bank and raise resources for modernisation, seems jinxed. The first tender in Sarai Rohilla in Delhi ran smack into the global crisis; the successful bidder was unable to meet the payment schedule and the site had to be readvertised. In Mumbai, the rlda expected Rs 4,000 crore from a commercial plot in Bandra, way above what the developers felt was fair value and the tender fizzled out. Later, the collector ruled that the plot belonged to the state government, something that is being resolved. Post Adarsh, it was decreed that all proposals for alienation of central government land would require cabinet approval, which would add to the rlda’s timeline for disposal.

Ashok Lal, Mumbai

Your story has a line—“within the Planning Commission, questions have been raised about changing of contract terms to benefit General Electric”. We would like to clarify that GE is a bidder for the loco manufacturing unit project and no terms have ever been changed to offer GE any differential benefit vis-a-vis other bidders. This is a baseless insinuation against GE and we hope you will do the necessary in dispelling such false notions.

Pratyush Kumar, President & CEO, GE Transportation, South Asia

I am a lawyer and have filed a whistle-blower petition against GE in the Delhi High Court on the issue of corruption in rail tenders for the Madhepura and Marhowa locomotive factories. Taking cognisance of the civil writ petition (No. 1280/2012), the court had on March 7, 2012, issued notice to GE, the PMO, the CBI, CVC, the Railway board and the Delhi police.

Seema Sapra, Delhi

The basic flaw of the railways is that it is overstaffed by around a million hands. This huge workforce is eating up 40 per cent of the revenues, leaving nothing for safety and improvement of services. The only way out is rightsizing the workforce, infusing capital to augment safety and allowing the private sector into all sectors. Fears over this are unfounded. Look at Bangladesh. It has privatised its railways and everything is running smooth.

Rajiv Chacko, Bangalore

The railways is a natural monopoly. It works best if run as an integrated system. Its functions cannot be privatised in piecemeal fashion.

M.K. Saini, Delhi

It would be naive to think that the extra revenue generated by the hike in rail fares that was proposed would’ve been spent wisely on increasing safety and providing better amenities! Good intentions do not necessarily translate into good implementation, at least not with this government.

Praveen Kumar, Thane

You cite the cases of privatisation of Delhi’s power utility and the modern IGIA airport to buttress the point of the “consumer paying a high price”. I don’t think those who remember life with the DESU and the old IGIA are complaining.

Ramkumar, Amsterdam

The railways have to take some hard decisions ASAP—give Railway Board members, GMs freedom to take decisions without interference from ministry/ministers and make them accountable; prepare a five-year plan to convert IR into Indian Railways Corporation so that it can raise money from the capital market for expansion, modernisation etc. And as a first step, immediately raise fares.

Narendra M. Apte, Pune

Presumably those BPL citizens earning less than Rs 29 a day will either walk or be ‘subsidised’.

Harsh Rai Puri, Bhopal

Author is deeply interested in unchecked growth of PPP by putting all free facilities forcibly in PPP mode by levying toll tax.He has nowhere cautioned read ers to thoroghly examine actual feasiblity of PPP projects by USING CAG AUDIT MANUAL FOR PPP,PPP toolkit etc. for ensuring VALUE FOR MONEY TO THE PUBLIC,ESTIMATING ATUCAL NECESSITY,ACTUAL COST. Most shameful example being NHDP-IV (widening of two lane roads on both sides by 5ft only without 4-laning and levying toll for 15-20 years for poor service).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-71Vw3_Ufwk&feature=plcp&context=C4fa3e3dVDvjVQa1PpcFO_RIXBEQZSDD2zFd2eu63pdbekjFsNjlQ%3D
This will clearly give video clip of NHDP-IV fake project
 

 Dear Sir,

The article on the railways is an eye opener on how the manipulations are done in the planning commission to cater to vested interest and ofcourse with all the US educated Indians in the key positions it is possible to grab  this huge piece of asset part by part, in the name of modernisation,by private parties.This asset has been built by contribution from every Indian by way taxes and fare.If anything that the Railways are lacking is the efficiency and will of every man working in the railways including the Railway minister.Mr Trivedi's and Mr Pitroda's US qualifications should help in structuring the railways for better performance rather than finding ways to hive off the assets to their  vested interest in the name of getting the railways back on track which may still not help.Mr Trivedi was talking about sacrifice by Bhagat Singh ,one hopes, he understands what it means to have national pride.Indian Railways is the pride of the nation it cant be sold off.  

Trivedi’s Budget Express crossed the line of control avoiding red signal post of the TMC High Command against imposing burden on Sadharan Manush( Common man) by 2 Paisa/Km fare hike for Suburban and oridinary second class travel. Mr. Trivedi wants to bring back the healthy condition of the Indian Railway which has been lying in ICU for past few years. It is a bold step of our railway minister and it is well appreciated by the common people of this country as well. The recent survey clearly shows us the truth .The merit and demerits, criticism by the experts continues, the impact of the budget will certainly be proved positive in future. It is indeed a great Railway bazaar..........

 there is no headline news of Rs 2 lakh crore{2000000000000) wakf land scam in karnatka in which 37 congress members are involved.... Why OLI, why?

 It has been a well-thought and calculated strategy of the government to highlight the fund crunch first and then to hand over the prime and lucrative job-areas/projects to the private players under the garb of PPP which has so far not proved beneficial at least to the public- of course the other parties had always succeeded in extracting the bests out of such partnerships.  

 Laloo was a big hype.some joker in his team gave him a plan and he projected as his without understanding what it was all about.and now you see the effect of it all.the raiways is rolling downhill.well, some body can start a new concept on how not to act like laloo.

Thanks to Montek for writing about what ails the railways. That Montek and Pitroda are sparing thought to this raises a faint hope that some improvement is still possible in Indian governance. Why distrust everything that comes out of any effort of reform? What is wrong with having PPP agreements as long as they are run on a fair and equitable basis? One look at any Indian railway station or the inhuman unreserved compartment in any Indian train will convince anybody of the need to reform. What is wrong with privatising services and letting entrepreneurs run it efficiently - after making sure that there is scope for fair competition. Several things are privatised and automated and we see improvements already; IRCTC for example - the experience of buying a ticket online is so much better than standing hours together in a line (which may or may not sell the kind of ticket you are looking for) or calling a very unfreindly railway employee on the phone to ask for train information.

I am a lawyer and have filed a whistle-blower petition against General Electric in the Delhi High Court on the issue of corruption in these railway tenders for the Madhepura and Marhowra locomotive factories. The petition is Civil Writ Petition No. 1280/ 2012 and the Delhi High Court has on March 7, 2012 issued notice to GE, the PMO, the CBI, the CVC, the Railway Board and the Delhi Police.
The matter is Seema Sapra vs. General Electric Co. and Others. The General Electric entities summoned by the Court are General Electric Co., GE India Industrial Private Limited, and GE Global Sourcing India Private Limited. 

Issue of notice by the Court means that the Court has taken cognizance of my petition.   
 

I fail to understand why  you guys smell a rat here.You guys have made it look like an expose'. Why this paranoia? Doesn't the Railway need to improve? Or do you want another Laoo who cooks books and makes Railways look like a golden goose that stinks to high heavens?

  "Similarly, lacunae in the agreements relating to power projects (like the Dabhol power project or the privatisation of the Delhi power utility) or airports (like Delhi’s modern IGIA) ended up with the consumer paying a high price." Well if one remembers how life was with DESU in Delhi and the old IGIA, i am sure no one is complaining. The whole article seems motivated. What is wrong in the Railways not improving efficiency and service if it does mean a little increase in fares.

Self aclained scribes, planning commission and experts of all kind can brain storm forever but cannot fix railways or do any good. If they want to get railways back on track, look what Laloo Yadav did. How he turned around this public sector on the verge of bankrupcy to a profitable entity. Without increase in fair, without layoffs. 

Mr. Trivedi was trying to improve our filthy,stinky, aged railways and was trying to bring higher standards.He was wise enough to listen to experts.BUT of course,our know-it-all politicians will do anything to thwart such a move.Its our misfortune,that we are ruled by third rate "chors". And we want to be a super-power! Dream on.

"“Once you go the PPP way, the investors will cherry-pick, charge high tariff and pave the way for privatisation,” fears Prasenjit Bose of the CPI(M)."

Why am I not surprised..

 Should we not discuss  impact of 20% freight hike on general public. Media never gave a chance for discussion except a 15 minute headline flash.  Why this artcle is mum about freight hike. And how Rly will utilize the money earned by this freight hike. Income from fare hike is negligible in comparision to freight hike.

 “Lately, although the ‘Dough’ of UPA’s fate is made in Parliament it is finally baked in the ‘Firebox’ of ‘Rail Locomotive’.”

The working of the RLDA, created specifically to unlock value from the immense land bank of the railways, in order to raise resources for modernisation, appears to be jinxed. The first tender for Sarai Rohilla in New Delhi ran smack into the global financial crisis, the successful bidder was unable to meet the payment schedule and the site had to be readvertised.

In Bombay, the RLDA expected Rs. 4,000 crores from a commercial plot in Bandra, way above what developers felt was a fair value and the tender fizzled rather than sizzled. Later, the Collector ruled that the plot belonged to the state government, something that is being resolved.

Post Adarsh, it was decreed that all proposals for alienation of central government land would require cabinet approval, which would add to the RLDA's timeline for disposal.

If Ms Mamata Banerjee is having some special thoughts about making the Indian Railways (IR) pro-poor and efficient too, is it not her duty to share those with others? She invites criticism for her obstinate and irrational attitude in the context of poor finances of IR and no efforts to improve them.
However, it is not coalition politics alone that has brought the railways to its present mess. It is foolish ideas about protecting the common man of the former Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee which have created this situation.
Under the circumstances, if the UPA government really desires to put IR back on track, it should insist that the Railways minister should abandon the populist policies and make sincere efforts to put the IR back on way to long term recovery. To achieve this objective, I suggest that following measures be taken: (1) Make the Railway Board members and General managers of all Railway Zones accountable for their decisions, but give them the freedom to take decisions without interference from the Ministry or the Minister. (2) Take immediate steps to increase passenger fares, to ensure that the IR gets some extra money to improve its finances. Ms Banerjee had all these years denied the IR an opportunity to do this. Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, the courageous ex-minister, had seized it, only to be out done by Ms Banerjee. It is still not too late to correct the mistakes of the past, Ms Banerjee should be told. (Perhaps when history will be written, Mr. Trivedi will be mentioned more than his boss, Ms Banerjee.) (3) Modernize the management of IR with the help of management experts and former members of the Railway Board with good reputation. (4) Prepare and implement a five year plan to convert IR into Indian Railways Corporation (IRC), so that IRC can raise money from capital market to fund expansion plans etc. In the meanwhile public-private partnership programmes to improve productivity and service of IR should continue.

This article presents Mamata Banerjee as someone who unhappy or uneasy about some of these plans for restructuring the railways.

But why is she sabotaging plans for even minimal fare hikes. Does she not understand that railways has to pay market prices for all its input costs? Surely this will destroy Indian Railways just as quickly as some half baked re-structuring program. Does she have any strategy or know what she is doing?

Its true to say the UK privatisation has not been a success.  It is very costly for one and is designed to guarantee profits for the private companies. But the government still has to subsidise rail transport to the tune of billions of pounds annually.  The trains are new but they are cramped ( for me  anyway, I am 6')  and congested. You pay a high price but you are not always guaranteed a seat. And the CEOs of the train operating companies take home large salaries to reward their "entrepreneurial" genius. Its a form of crony capitalism

Lets start with first principles. Railways is a natural monooly. It is most efficient if it is run as an integrated system . These kind of functions are not easily privatised. 

and presumably those BPL citizens who are earning less than Rs 29 per day either walk or be subsidized (free passes or ticketless travel)

and presumably those BPL citizens who are earning less than Rs 29 per day either walk or be subsidized (free passes or ticketless travel)

This article presents Mamata Banerjee as someone who unhappy or uneasy about some of these plans for restructuring the railways.

But why is she sabotaging plans for even minimal fare hikes. Does she not understand that railways has to pay market prices for all its input costs? Surely this will destroy Indian Railways just as quickly as some half baked re-structuring program. Does she have any strategy or know what she is doing?

Its true to say the UK privatisation has not been a success.  It is very costly for one and is designed to guarantee profits for the private companies. But the government still has to subsidise rail transport to the tune of billions of pounds annually.  The trains are new but they are cramped ( for me  anyway, I am 6')  and congested. You pay a high price but you are not always guaranteed a seat. And the CEOs of the train operating companies take home large salaries to reward their "entrepreneurial" genius. Its a form of crony capitalism

Lets start with first principles. Railways is a natural monooly. It is most efficient if it is run as an integrated system . These kind of functions are not easily privatised. 

If Ms Mamata Banerjee is having some special thoughts about making the Indian Railways (IR) pro-poor and efficient too, is it not her duty to share those with others? She invites criticism for her obstinate and irrational attitude in the context of poor finances of IR and no efforts to improve them.
However, it is not coalition politics alone that has brought the railways to its present mess. It is foolish ideas about protecting the common man of the former Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee which have created this situation.
Under the circumstances, if the UPA government really desires to put IR back on track, it should insist that the Railways minister should abandon the populist policies and make sincere efforts to put the IR back on way to long term recovery. To achieve this objective, I suggest that following measures be taken: (1) Make the Railway Board members and General managers of all Railway Zones accountable for their decisions, but give them the freedom to take decisions without interference from the Ministry or the Minister. (2) Take immediate steps to increase passenger fares, to ensure that the IR gets some extra money to improve its finances. Ms Banerjee had all these years denied the IR an opportunity to do this. Mr. Dinesh Trivedi, the courageous ex-minister, had seized it, only to be out done by Ms Banerjee. It is still not too late to correct the mistakes of the past, Ms Banerjee should be told. (Perhaps when history will be written, Mr. Trivedi will be mentioned more than his boss, Ms Banerjee.) (3) Modernize the management of IR with the help of management experts and former members of the Railway Board with good reputation. (4) Prepare and implement a five year plan to convert IR into Indian Railways Corporation (IRC), so that IRC can raise money from capital market to fund expansion plans etc. In the meanwhile public-private partnership programmes to improve productivity and service of IR should continue.

The working of the RLDA, created specifically to unlock value from the immense land bank of the railways, in order to raise resources for modernisation, appears to be jinxed. The first tender for Sarai Rohilla in New Delhi ran smack into the global financial crisis, the successful bidder was unable to meet the payment schedule and the site had to be readvertised.

In Bombay, the RLDA expected Rs. 4,000 crores from a commercial plot in Bandra, way above what developers felt was a fair value and the tender fizzled rather than sizzled. Later, the Collector ruled that the plot belonged to the state government, something that is being resolved.

Post Adarsh, it was decreed that all proposals for alienation of central government land would require cabinet approval, which would add to the RLDA's timeline for disposal.

 “Lately, although the ‘Dough’ of UPA’s fate is made in Parliament it is finally baked in the ‘Firebox’ of ‘Rail Locomotive’.”

 Should we not discuss  impact of 20% freight hike on general public. Media never gave a chance for discussion except a 15 minute headline flash.  Why this artcle is mum about freight hike. And how Rly will utilize the money earned by this freight hike. Income from fare hike is negligible in comparision to freight hike.

"“Once you go the PPP way, the investors will cherry-pick, charge high tariff and pave the way for privatisation,” fears Prasenjit Bose of the CPI(M)."

Why am I not surprised..

Mr. Trivedi was trying to improve our filthy,stinky, aged railways and was trying to bring higher standards.He was wise enough to listen to experts.BUT of course,our know-it-all politicians will do anything to thwart such a move.Its our misfortune,that we are ruled by third rate "chors". And we want to be a super-power! Dream on.

Self aclained scribes, planning commission and experts of all kind can brain storm forever but cannot fix railways or do any good. If they want to get railways back on track, look what Laloo Yadav did. How he turned around this public sector on the verge of bankrupcy to a profitable entity. Without increase in fair, without layoffs. 

  "Similarly, lacunae in the agreements relating to power projects (like the Dabhol power project or the privatisation of the Delhi power utility) or airports (like Delhi’s modern IGIA) ended up with the consumer paying a high price." Well if one remembers how life was with DESU in Delhi and the old IGIA, i am sure no one is complaining. The whole article seems motivated. What is wrong in the Railways not improving efficiency and service if it does mean a little increase in fares.

I fail to understand why  you guys smell a rat here.You guys have made it look like an expose'. Why this paranoia? Doesn't the Railway need to improve? Or do you want another Laoo who cooks books and makes Railways look like a golden goose that stinks to high heavens?

I am a lawyer and have filed a whistle-blower petition against General Electric in the Delhi High Court on the issue of corruption in these railway tenders for the Madhepura and Marhowra locomotive factories. The petition is Civil Writ Petition No. 1280/ 2012 and the Delhi High Court has on March 7, 2012 issued notice to GE, the PMO, the CBI, the CVC, the Railway Board and the Delhi Police.
The matter is Seema Sapra vs. General Electric Co. and Others. The General Electric entities summoned by the Court are General Electric Co., GE India Industrial Private Limited, and GE Global Sourcing India Private Limited. 

Issue of notice by the Court means that the Court has taken cognizance of my petition.   
 

Thanks to Montek for writing about what ails the railways. That Montek and Pitroda are sparing thought to this raises a faint hope that some improvement is still possible in Indian governance. Why distrust everything that comes out of any effort of reform? What is wrong with having PPP agreements as long as they are run on a fair and equitable basis? One look at any Indian railway station or the inhuman unreserved compartment in any Indian train will convince anybody of the need to reform. What is wrong with privatising services and letting entrepreneurs run it efficiently - after making sure that there is scope for fair competition. Several things are privatised and automated and we see improvements already; IRCTC for example - the experience of buying a ticket online is so much better than standing hours together in a line (which may or may not sell the kind of ticket you are looking for) or calling a very unfreindly railway employee on the phone to ask for train information.

 Laloo was a big hype.some joker in his team gave him a plan and he projected as his without understanding what it was all about.and now you see the effect of it all.the raiways is rolling downhill.well, some body can start a new concept on how not to act like laloo.

 It has been a well-thought and calculated strategy of the government to highlight the fund crunch first and then to hand over the prime and lucrative job-areas/projects to the private players under the garb of PPP which has so far not proved beneficial at least to the public- of course the other parties had always succeeded in extracting the bests out of such partnerships.  

 there is no headline news of Rs 2 lakh crore{2000000000000) wakf land scam in karnatka in which 37 congress members are involved.... Why OLI, why?

Trivedi’s Budget Express crossed the line of control avoiding red signal post of the TMC High Command against imposing burden on Sadharan Manush( Common man) by 2 Paisa/Km fare hike for Suburban and oridinary second class travel. Mr. Trivedi wants to bring back the healthy condition of the Indian Railway which has been lying in ICU for past few years. It is a bold step of our railway minister and it is well appreciated by the common people of this country as well. The recent survey clearly shows us the truth .The merit and demerits, criticism by the experts continues, the impact of the budget will certainly be proved positive in future. It is indeed a great Railway bazaar..........

 Dear Sir,

The article on the railways is an eye opener on how the manipulations are done in the planning commission to cater to vested interest and ofcourse with all the US educated Indians in the key positions it is possible to grab  this huge piece of asset part by part, in the name of modernisation,by private parties.This asset has been built by contribution from every Indian by way taxes and fare.If anything that the Railways are lacking is the efficiency and will of every man working in the railways including the Railway minister.Mr Trivedi's and Mr Pitroda's US qualifications should help in structuring the railways for better performance rather than finding ways to hive off the assets to their  vested interest in the name of getting the railways back on track which may still not help.Mr Trivedi was talking about sacrifice by Bhagat Singh ,one hopes, he understands what it means to have national pride.Indian Railways is the pride of the nation it cant be sold off.  

Author is deeply interested in unchecked growth of PPP by putting all free facilities forcibly in PPP mode by levying toll tax.He has nowhere cautioned read ers to thoroghly examine actual feasiblity of PPP projects by USING CAG AUDIT MANUAL FOR PPP,PPP toolkit etc. for ensuring VALUE FOR MONEY TO THE PUBLIC,ESTIMATING ATUCAL NECESSITY,ACTUAL COST. Most shameful example being NHDP-IV (widening of two lane roads on both sides by 5ft only without 4-laning and levying toll for 15-20 years for poor service).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-71Vw3_Ufwk&feature=plcp&context=C4fa3e3dVDvjVQa1PpcFO_RIXBEQZSDD2zFd2eu63pdbekjFsNjlQ%3D
This will clearly give video clip of NHDP-IV fake project