The institution of Pakistan Railways once used to enjoy the pride of the country; serving as a golden role model for other bodies. Unfortunately, it could not sustain this reputation for long. Poor planning and mismanagement of resources, coupled with faulty decision-making, were behind the institution’s gradual decay. A profit-earning public entity plunged into losses, making the political leadership feel that it had become a burden on the national exchequer. Consequently, several proposals were given to privatise it so that it may not further impact the already frail economy. However, such suggestions could not materialise as the stakeholders could not agree on any of them. In 2017, Railways incurred a loss of Rs 40 billion loss and it was feared that the situation would soon become even worse. The expected impact could have been devastating not only for the economy but also for the common man. Looking at the gloomy situation, we chalked out a plan to gradually decrease the deficit of Pakistan Railways and make it a revenue-earning institution.
The major issues we faced were political interference, corruption, inadequate human capital, poor infrastructure and huge deficits.
For the last three years, we have been closely working to tackle all these issues. Fortunately, we got adequate support from the Prime Minister and the Federal Minister for Railways for our future plans and strategies. Hence, the administration is free in making decisions based on merit, without any political interference, which is why the system is getting better with each passing day.
The Railways administration is free in making decisions based on merit; without any political interference.
In order to deal with corruption, we have set some examples. In the last five years, we have conducted 587 inquiries on complaints of financial corruption and negligence of duties. People responsible for incurring loss to the state institution were given major and minor penalties according to the nature of their offences. Nobody gets spared if found involved in any kind of act in violation of rules and regulations. To ensure punctuality, a monitoring system has been installed in Railways Headquarters that keeps an eye on the availability and absence of the employees. Surprise visits are also being made to ensure that everyone is performing his part to uplift Pakistan Railways. We can safely say that the check and balance system in Pakistan Railways is among the better ones in Pakistan if not the best.
The issue of inadequate human resources is being resolved and approval for the necessary hiring in different departments of Railways has already been given. Though there is still a lack of workforce in divisions, we have been striving hard to bridge this gap through merit-based hiring, appointments and postings.
To upgrade the infrastructure of Railways, we have started 38 new projects most of which will be completed by 2025. Models of developed countries are being studied, which will be put into practice in Pakistan with the availability of budget and resources.
So far as the deficits are concerned, vigilance has been increased to ensure that nobody travels ticketless or on bogus passes. The derailment also causes loss to the institution. Keeping in view the importance of smooth operations, Pakistan Railways involved more personnel on tracks so that the trains do not derail because of damaged lines. It is because of the efforts of Pakistan Railways that the average number of train accidents came down to 87 from 120 in 2021.
Operations are also in progress regarding the retrieval of state land from the encroachers. In the last seven months, 54 acres of land worth rupees 748 million was retrieved by Pakistan Railways.
We have also been working to ensure that the train delays are decreased to a minimum possible number. Because of our vigilance, we have been able to meet a 90 per cent punctuality rate of trains after so many years, which I believe is a great achievement of our team. Reports regarding revenue collection and punctuality of trains are being sought on daily basis from the divisions.
Things are going in the right direction. Pakistan Railways is doing its best in available resources and human capital. The day is not far when it will again become an earning hand of the state.
The writer is Chief Executive Officer (Pakistan Railways)