Trasui^ORT. Co?Fe:Junicai^I01I3 and IHS (Yovuaimbht Tranaj>Ort

~ IX TRASUiÔRT. Co?fe:JUNICAiÎ01I3 AND IHS (yOVUaiMBHT Tranaj>ort includes within it s sooj^c the movoaent of goods and persona. Coiamunioations, on the other hand, include the exchange o f messages. The systems o f jranspox^ are r a il^ y s , roadways. Inland and overseas navigation and air ways. The media of comisurdcations are the telegraph, the telephone, the post-office etc. Transport is a very important sector o f the eoonoiay of a country. The development of other sectors of the eco- non^y liice industry, agriculture etc. depends on the proper development of the transport system. Transport by itself is not productive of the national dividend; but it is an important contributory service in modem productive organi sation. Thus transport development beccxaes an integral part of economic planning. Even in an unplanned economy, the State taKes a great interest in the development of transport. This interest, however, is restricted mostly to safety regula tion and prevention of accidents, subsidies to struggling transport enterprises, ensuring fair rates and fares and control over the anti-social activities of monopolistic transport organisations. The development of transport in these countries is, however, generally unco-ordinated and leads to needless wastes on account of overlapping of sex*vices, ne&lect of the industry and agriculture and so on. — 623 — In a planned economy, the State is more inti’nately connected with the deTelopment of transport and tries to brixi^ about a co-ordinated development of a ll means of tr&nsiK>rt in such a way as to natch with the deyelopment of the other sectors of the economy. Moreover, the different foms of transport are so built up thut one foim of transport is co-râted with another and ensures its development, each in its sphere of effective service. JRA!^.>PoRJ IK NA!PIu?':U^ tiXJoNOMY s Before ôin& to the discussion of tiie different means of transport, a few general aspects of the subject may be noted. 1) In a planned economy, liice ours, the development of different forms of transport cazmot be considered in isola tion. I'he capacity of eadi mode of transport has to be - developed to meet the specific deioands for it as well as in relation to the rest of the transport system. The system as a whole has to be viewed at eacri step both as an inte grated structure as well as in tertas of relationship between different transport services. 2) A large part o f the investment in transport is a long tern investraent. Therefore, investiMnt in transport must look well beyond the current and anticipated needs o f the economy and talce into account future economic, techno logical and scientific developments. — 624 — 3) Transport exerts a considerable unifying and Integra* ting influence upon the econoia/. It enhances productivity* cridene the martot, introduces new stimuli to economic aeti'- vity and tarings village and the remoter and the more deve loped reeîons closer to on6 another. 4) Since the beginning of Five Yû* Plans, development of traiisport has become both a handmaid and a precursor of large scale industrial and economic development. ** The transport system has now to subserve a much wider range of purpases than before and has a crucial role in economic» social and technical development at uhe national and r e ^ o - nal levels as well as in the expansion of international trade. 3) '^he Committee on rransport x’olicy and Co-ordination, t which submitted its fin al report in January, 1966 has laid down the following objective of the national transport policy. It says, ' A national transport policy must, therefore, seek to build a transport structure of the r i^ t size and pattern, consistent with the scheme of eco nomic development envisaged imder the Plans and capable of meetixVft the demands of the future, x'he basic problem is to develop the different modes of transport in such proportions and combinations as w ill meet the lUll needs 1. J<inal Report o f tb« rsommfttee on Transport iôllcy jepd , Government of India, ^^lanning Coomissioa, ’Tew Delhi, 1966, p. 7. - 625 - . * • % - ^ of t]30 d9Telopiz^ eoonoiay of th« country «oon(»ilcall/ aikf to « provide for the largest measure of coordination possible, # so that the various transport serrloes will become oonple-> mentary to one another and will function'as a composite network. The different foms of transport are discussed in the following order t railway transport* road transport, water transport and air transport. * RAILWAY ‘fKAHSPuRI DEYELOifiafr OF BAXLAAY5 IN IHBU i The develoênt of Indian railways i»connected with the histoz^ and prospects of agricultural and industrial life of the country. Railway construe tlon started in India in the latter half of the 19th century. At first* the railways were owned by private companies* vbich received guarantee from the &ovexnment of India retârdin^ capital and a certain minlniuia rate of return. I'hen Ihe pattern of owneriftilp and nanagement underwent several changes* axid at present the railways are completely owned and managed by the (roverment. " A hundred years ago the railways had started under company management, later came the phase of company-managed and company~owned railways, existing side b^ side with State-owned and 1. WMil H.»ort of th» coimittw OB JpU m wi« CMardlmtion. ttovemment of lodlfc. Planning Co— tgilont Wew D«1M.*^?66* p. 21. — 626 — a coiapany-managed railways, arid State-owned and State-jaanaêd railwa/B, In the next phase, the management and control of the major lines passed on to the State, but the control of « the adniinistration vested solely in the soveriign direction o f the British i-arliament. In the fin al sta^/e, the control o f the railways passed into the hands of the State and the direction and sovereign control of the xnachinery of the State passed into the hands o f the people o f India."* * Frcn 1853 to 19H, there was a continuous increase^ in the railway mileage* The rate of increase was less during the perioci of the iir s t World War. After the war, the railway mileage went on continuously increasinî t i l l 1930. Prom 1950- 1939, there was very little new construc tion, mainly on account of depression. Durin^; the period of the Second World War, there was no development of the « railway system. Ln the other hand, the railway system was accually overstrained during the period. Renewals and repairs of rolling stocic and other assets were neglected. LSome railway lines were actually dismantled. The problem of gaiige was discussed several times during the period. In the beginning the broad gauge of 5 f t . 6 in . was recommended. Ihis was, however, foxmd out to be a costly luxury and later on the less expensive 1. Indian Railways - wne Hundred Years - 1^53 to 1S^^» '^.inietrif o f Railways (Railway Board), Oovemment of India, New Delhi, 1953, p. 40. — 627 — narrow gauges were adopted. The reeult liaa been that, at present, there are four different gauges Tarylng from 2 f t . to 5 f t . 6 in . in different parte of the country. The multi- plioity of gauges has created eeveral difficulties in the way of the development of Indian trade and industries. Just before partition and Independence India (undi<- Tided) had 41,340 miles of railway lines. ■Dhe partition of the co\intry resulted into a £j;ood deal of dislocation and disturbamieB for the Indian railways. The existing railway equipment was divideo between India and i’aicistan. fhe follow ii^ table shows the division of capital and route milea^ê. TABLiS NO. 9.1^ DIVISION OF RAIMAY CArIi!AL ASD KOUTS MILM&2 BBfWEfiR INIJIA ATTD I'AJCIS'JJAN Capital-at-oharge Total route Country ( in crores o f Rs. ) mj.leage India 667.43 34,083 jr’alcistan 156.00 6,957 The rolling stock i.e . locomotives, wagons. coaches etc. was divided on a mileatje-cum-traffic basis. Workshops were 1. K. P. Bhatnagar et al, Transport in Modem India. Kishore xublishing House, Kanpur^1966, p. 147. — 628 — dirlded on the basle of Icxsation. There was a good deal of dislocation in the staff alec, which created problems, as there was a surplus of staff in some catefjories and shortage in others. As Karachi went to xaJriLstan, the ôods tr a ffic towards Bombay increased. The creation of ::)a8tern Pal^stan brought in the transportation problwn for Assam. This was solved later by the construction of Assam Hail Link in 1949. Thus the iimedifete problem after Independence before India ms that of rehabilitatinj; ard raodemising her war and partition-battered railways. Nothing much could be done in the first three yeera. ^'he necessary administrative changes were, however, effected and thus a proper bacicground fo r fast development vms created. i'he Railway Enquiry Ccxamittee was appointed in 1946, under the Chairmanship of £^hri K. C. FeO(^. 'i'his Committee was, however, required to suspend it s work, due to the disturbances and adjustments following the partition. The Committee was, ti^n, reconstituted tmd Pt. Hirday ^âth Kimzru was appointed as the Chairman. The report of the Committee was submitted to the Government, in 1949. The Committee stressed the need of 'Job analysis’ in workshops to find Che extent of a\arplus staff and suggested several measures for increasing the operational efficiency as well as the general efficiency of the staff. It emphasised the need of increased research and suggested various measures for it. It also recomtwnded the electrification of the — 629 — Calcutta Suburban railway.

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