Daily Times

The affairs of Railways have never been exemplary. So is the situation of the other public departments. When Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed stood in the Supreme Court in the Tezgam Train fire incident, he was grilled by the bench, led by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, and was even reminded that he should have resigned over the October 2019 fire incident that led to the loss of 73 precious lives. True, public functionaries as well as corporate officials resign in the wake of tragedies and financial losses the world over, but such developments are based on nations’ political values, and work ethics. Such values have yet to take root in our part of the world. Moreover, courts should hardly suggest resignation for a working minister over their bad performance. This mandate should be used by the public, prime minister, opposition and the media. The scathing remarks of the judges, which reach the public within minutes in the shape of digital media news and TV tickers, tend to paralyse the government. The bench, which passed the remarks, is hearing a suo motu case, initiated by former chief justice Saqib Nisar, relating to the huge losses suffered by the Pakistan Railways in the last five years. Similarly, suo motu notices are almost unheard of in other countries, but this practice, which should have been used sparingly, has often been everyday court practice.

Regardless of the remarks, Sheikh Rashid should start taking interest in his department, instead of giving his precious hours to TV talk shows. He should have resigned after the fire incident. Since his inception as the railways minister, Sheikh Rashid has resorted to opening more and more trains on abandoned sections. Such trains never won media approval because of their off-the-capital proximity. Many such trains are running into losses but certain segments of society have greatly benefited from them. But in all, the minister has never come up with a viable business plan to revive the department. The court has ordered the minister to present a business plan in two weeks for converting the department into a financially sound business entity. Hopefully, the case will help the department prepare a business roadmap. Similarly, the proceedings will help the railways see the launch the ML-1 project, part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, to rehabilitate and improve the existing 1,860km ML-1 Karachi-to-Peshawar section. Railway must chug asking under a smooth working plan. *