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PROCEEDINGS OF GENERAL MANAGERS’ CONFERENCE HELD ON 17TH MARCH 2010 1.0 Address by Hon’ble MR 1.1 Indian Railway is not getting positive publicity despite lot of good works being done in various fields. Improved IR website, designed professionally, is necessary to create a good image of Railways and must be set up without any further delay. CPROs also should work more proactively to communicate the good work being done to media, rather than merely giving information about Railways’ failures. 1.2 There is a need for better coordination and communication between different departments in Railways. GMs, AGMs, DRMs and ADRMs must ensure proper coordination at all levels. Communication also needs to be improved so that decisions taken at Board level also reach the grass root. 1.3 Railway employees and their family members are carrying out the mammoth task of running 17000 trains every day despite huge shortage of employees. Board must fill all the vacancies in Group “C” and Group “D” including vacancies in Gangmen, RPF, Sports quota, Handicapped quota, SC/ST quota, by July this year. 1000 available Act Apprentices should also be absorbed in the railways. 1.4 Tendering process should be speeded up. This is possible only if Tender schedules are prepared properly without any mistakes. Frequent changes in the tender specifications after issue of tender notice only delays the whole process. Railway is being very adversely criticized for not spending the allotted money, due to delay in finalization of tenders. Tender schedules for works to be carried out, as per budget commitments should be kept ready, so that tenders can be floated as soon as budget is passed. Performance of officers in this regard need to be monitored. 1.5 All amounts which have been allotted in the Budget for works programmes and projects need to spent fully and on an urgent basis. FC shall regularly monitor the expenses status and draw attention of the full Board. Page 1 of 67 Proceedings of GMs’ Conf held on 17th March 2010 1.6 Separate Officers must be nominated by Zonal railways for specific works like beautification of stations, cleanliness, and Safety and DRMs be spared for development works and train operations. 1.7 The clearance for Automobile Hub programme by South Eastern railway and MT within 100 days deserves to be complimented. This needs to be done by other railways also. Nine more hubs at Chennai, Ernakulam, Hyderabad, Jalpaiguri, Guwahati, Orissa, Nasik etc have to be established soon which will help in increasing the number of cars being transported from 5000 to 16000 giving an additional earning of Rs 1000 crore to Railways. Financial powers of GMs and DRMs for construction works and also for ROB or Unmanned LCs have been increased to speed up the completion of project works. 1.8 All commitments made in this year’s budget that is 1000 km of new line, 800 km of Gauge Conversion, 700 km of Doubling and also the other announcements including earlier announcements should be met. Project wise performance of last year must also be evaluated. 1.9 New line connectivities to Ports, Pilgrim & Tourist Centres need to be done expeditiously. The present survey system with its ROR system does not capture the socially desirable projects and this needs a through revisit. 1.10 Following guidelines need to be followed for land acquisition for special railway projects where land acquisition is necessary : • There will be no forceful acquisition of land. • In case of disputes negotiations with the landowners will be resorted to • Railways will resort to amicable settlement with the owner. • Railways will go nearest to the railway station to reduce the requirement for land acquisition. Page 2 of 67 Proceedings of GMs’ Conf held on 17th March 2010 • Congested areas be avoided for new lines, DFC etc. • Railways can also consider giving employment to one family member. 1.11 Corruption especially at high places can not be tolerated. There is a need to streamline Stores Tendering process and Scrap Auction process where corruption is rampant. GMs must take to task people who are indulging in malpractices by getting surprise visits and increased vigilance checks done in these areas. Complaints of corruption against senior officers are a matter of grave concern and adversely affects the image of railways. Vigilance organization must also carry out checks wherever projects are going on. 1.12 Complaints are also being received that people with vested interests are monopolising rakes that are in short supply to their advantage. This needs to be curbed. There is a need to have a ‘Tatkal’ website for freight system. 1.13 Money on Adarsh Stations must to be spent wisely. Rs.1 crore has not been provided for painting alone but for bringing complete improvement in the station premises. Drinking water is an important aspect and this must be ensured at all station in adequate amounts. GMs must take stock of the situation. Vigilance must also carry out checks to ensure that the money is being utilised properly for works on Adarsh stations. 1.14 Derailments are a cause of worry. Derailments lead to loss of precious human life which can not be accepted. Even if one life is lost it is serious. Accidents at unmanned LC gates is also a serious concern. It leads to public agitations and rail rokos. Railway loses lot of revenue on account of blockage of traffic for 8-10 hours in accidents and derailments. Saving accidents will not only save lives but also help railways in earning more. The drivers need to exercise caution while crossing unmanned LC. Out of 24000 unmanned LCs, 17000 are still left. This year 4000 have been taken up for manning out of them. Within 4 Page 3 of 67 Proceedings of GMs’ Conf held on 17th March 2010 years all LCs will be manned. In the projects of new line, doubling etc. the provision must be kept for under pass on unmanned LCs, and ROBs so that there is no need to do it separately later. Derailments are taking place mainly due to engineering failures, hence these needs to be controlled. Accidents at UMLCs have to decrease and we definitely have to be more cautious on this. 1.15 GMs must make unannounced surprise visit at the track work sites at least once in a fortnight to know the ground reality by meeting the gangmen and staff at grass root level. Suburban section from where number of complaints originate also need to be visited. 1.16 DRMs are expected to have good multi-disciplinary experience and should therefore be posted as Chief Safety officer for two years after completing their tenure as DRM. 1.17 GMs must identify the places suitable for various coach factories, wagon factories, medical colleges, hospitals, diagnostic centers, training centers etc. announced in the budget. Except for Orissa, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra railway land is available at all other places where projects have been announced. GMs of ECoR, SCR, and WR must approach the Chief Ministers for land at these places. 1.18 The railway land can be protected from encroachment by encouraging Industry to invest in Railways for sidings, coal mines & port connectivity and the connectivity with other important areas for an economic share. Viability of projects in such cases needs to be seen over long term and not short term considering the future growth scenario of the country. 1.19 The work of Rae Bareli Factory should immediately be started and must be completed within one year by mechanical. Work at Kanchrapara has been entrusted to Electrical. ML should plan for its early completion. It has been decided not to proceed with optical fiber cables any Page 4 of 67 Proceedings of GMs’ Conf held on 17th March 2010 further beyond 33000 Kilometer but to go for Broad Band Project up to the Panchayat level as per the advise of Dr. Sam Pitroda. This broad band project will give lot of revenue to Railways. 1.20 Mr Suhel Seth has been requested to prepare a package for advertisement. There is lot of scope for increase in earnings from advertisements. OHE masts located at every 60 meters in 18000 route kilometer of Electrified area can be used for advertisement by suitably colouring it with soothing colours without affecting the operations. Suburban Stations can also be fenced through ads without any cost to railways. This will prevent encroachment also and will also result in beautification and positive publicity to railways. 1.21 Only 1000 important stations out of total 8000 stations on IR have been chosen for improvement and beautification as Adarsh station, MFC and World class stations. Balance 7000 stations can be improved through private parties by permitting them to advertise on station premises according to the existing policy. This will help in improving every station. CRB shall suitably issue guidelines to GMs on this. 1.22 Parties are offering to sponsor the cleaning of the entire station and take away the garbage at no cost to the railways. Initially one section can be given for cleanliness which can be further extended if performance is found satisfactory. MT has received a proposal for cleanliness on 200 trains without any cost to railways in return for advertisement rights on these trains. There is a need to issue policy guidelines in this regard to empower GMs. 1.23 100 days clearance for all proposals for IR (internal clearance) needs to be ensured. A cell has been opened under Secretary Railway Board for accepting proposals from interested parties wanting to do business with the railways. Zones should have some similar arrangement.

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