The Railway Budget

Firstly, this post is not going to elaborate too much on the aspects that the railway Minister outlined in his annual budget. For me, i never have and will never understand the concept of the budget. This particular post is going to focus on two aspects that were outlined in this budget. The decision to adopt 2007-08 as the Railway Cleanliness Year and the Beefing up of the Security at various stations around the country.

The Railways have always been the lifeline of India for the past 154 years. The Railways is considered the most visible symbol of keeping the country as a whole. From Kannyakumari to Jammu Tawi and from Bhuj in Gujarat to Jorhat in Assam, the rail network in India is the most complex and vast network in the world. As a frequent traveller on the Railways, i am proud of this achievement. But, i cannot speak too highly of the cleanliness standard in the whole network. Barring only a fraction of the total trains, the majority of the trains have almost non-existant Hygiene. The network especially to the North and to the Central part is very poor indeed.

The announcements on the rail stationswould be that passengers should have a clean, safe and pleasent Journey. Sometimes, baaring the safe, the other two just dont come about. In very few trains, this can be achieved. The situation is bad in the sleeper class, with the people there following no standards of Hygiene. The dirt and the stink that envelopes the Sleeper bogies makes one's life there not so nice. This gets worse during the Summer time, with an increase in Travel for the vacations. The unhygienic conditions in the train have been the most complained about problem, and the railways are no closer to solving it. The situation is equally bad in the Air-Conditioned compartments as well.

The move to install CCTV's and Close circuit Camras on many prominent station is a very welcome move. In the North-east of th country, Militants there have often sabotaged the railways and have targetted rail installations there. This move will put a check to it, and then gradually make it safe for travel. With the blasts on the Mumbai Local Trains on 7/11, and the recent blast on the Samjhautha express have meant that Security is the necessity of the day. This might releive the RPF(Railway Protection Force), who have been inadequate in number to patrol the big stations.

But, each initiative has its own roadblocks. Trying to solve the Hygiene scenario for the Railwas is a painstaking job. The mentality of certain sections of the people are such that Unhygieniety for them is a way of life. If indeed once Hygiene is maintained, then the Sustainability becomes very difficult because of lack of enforcement and Apathy. Authorities will loose interest in trying to keep it Hygienic because the people are not following it. It is upto the people of the country to change their mindset and follow a Hygienic way of travel. This will benefit all those travelling the railways. Maintain Hygiene and sustaning it is upto the People and the People alone.

Security Bottlenecks will remain. In Dacoit infested areas of Eastern UP, Bihar and Jharkhand, security is almost non-existant. Recent incidences of Dacoity in Bihar will test the security proposal of the Rail Minister. Onw actually wonders as to why CCTVs in addition to being on the station cannot be installed in the Trains. Ensuring of the Security to the passengers is something which needs tremendous amount of following up by the authorities. Vigilance and Sustainability of the Initiative will make the Railways even better.