The Muck Continues

In one of my posts dated 13th July, 2011, I had hoped that at last some corrective action was underway in the Railways. But as everyone seems to be knowing (and accepting) in India, the reality is too dark, much darker than the worst pessimists could imagine. I am talking of top Railway bureaucracy. In one sentence it can be described as 'The Railway administration is stinking and the top bureaucrats in the Railways are enjoying the stink'.

Against all odds (it is a long story summarized in the above sentence), I could succeed in submission of unanimous recommendations by the committee, consisting of a retired General Manager and a present General Manager besides me. These easily implementable recommendations were aimed at preventing further muck to a large extent. But as is the norm in India with regards to the committees and their reports, for all I know, these recommendations must be lying in some waste paper basket. It appears the purpose (of buying time and hoodwinking certain authorities such as Committee of Secretaries) was served just by forming the committee. For bureaucrats, especially the top bureaucrats, their career and other considerations are thousand times more important than the leakage of thousands of crores of public money year after year.

As a byproduct, my request for voluntary retirement was accepted (I am now a retired Railway officer still awaiting my dues and pension) and I, among others, was selected for the award for 'Crusade against Corruption' by Sitaram Jindal Foundation at all India level for my efforts. But as of today, the muck in the Railway procurement, I had set out to clear, continues. Let us see how long it does.