Finding black cat in the dark
December 11, 2011 00:00:00
Khalilur Rahman
Finding out a black cat in the dark without light is not only extremely difficult but almost impossible. Veteran politician Sree Suranjit Sengupta will exactly have to do so in the vast expanse of country's ailing railways as a minister. Appointed a minister for the first time in his life, Mr Sengupta in his initial reactions to the challenges he would confront in the ministry, identified four priority areas in which he wants to concentrate first.
Referring to the loss incurred by the railways, the biggest state-run transport sector, the newly appointed outspoken leader observed that Bangladesh was the lone country in the world incurring loss in the railway sector. Mr Sengupta expressed his determination to regain lost glory of railway and ascertain where and how the "black cat" was hiding in the dark. We all know that the country's railway is now in a moribund state due to long neglect shown to it by the successive governments during the last 40 years of our independence. As such in order to find out the black cat in the railways, Mr Sengupta will need a searchlight, not a lantern nor a candle. The searchlight he needs is in the form of big investment and logistic support.
The minister said that maintaining the time table of trains would be his first priority to be followed by neat and clean services. The railway passengers will be benefited much if the authority can maintain schedule. In respect of sufferings of the passengers in course of buying railway tickets, the minister said he wanted to digitize the ticketing system which will remove passengers' woes substantially. Converting metre gauge rail line into broad gauge and broad gauge into electric line will constitute another challenge, he observed. The time is limited for the railway minister to do the job he has defined as the tenure of the present government will expire within next two years. Therefore, the railway minister admitted that he will not be able to accomplish all these tasks.
We know acute shortage of railway engines as well as compartments stand in the way of maintaining train schedules. Weak railway track in different routes slows down speed of trains which, in turn, affects the movement of trains in time. Therefore the running of trains are often delayed by several hours much to the sufferings of the passengers. We have two railway workshops at Pahartali in Chittagong and Syedpur in Rangpur. Mismanagement and rampant theft of materials have crippled the workshops, making it difficult to repair faulty engines quickly. Moreover, Biharis who once constituted the major skilled workforce in the workshops are no longer there. There is dearth of skilled manpower in both the workshops now. During the last three years, the former communications minister could do little despite his commitments to build a new and modern railway communication network by 2012. He had announced that move was underway to modernise railway communication in the country and claimed that such initiative was not taken during the last one century.
The minister's assertion to modernise the railway is a matter to be seen in future. The passengers travelling by the train, however, have a different tale to tell. They feel that journey by this cheaper means of transport is gradually becoming risky. Head-on collision of trains due to wrong signalling, de-railing of compartments and accidents at level-crossings are taking place often. Services rendered to the passengers are far from satisfactory. The railway stations in many places are understaffed. The number of trains on a large number of routes has decreased considerably and many routes have been closed down.
On his first day in office, Mr Suranjit Sengupta reiterated his commitment to improve railway services and modernize the system. He, however, pointed out a chronic problem facing the railway-ticketless travelling-and urged the people to pay for their journey by train.
One should not expect that all the ills accumulated over the last 40 years in railway sector will be removed overnight. And for the new railway minister time is very limited, task lay ahead is formidable and resources are scarce. But we strongly believe that Mr Sengupta, by virtue of his wisdom, sincerity and honesty, will be able to bring about a qualitative change in this vital communication network to the benefit of millions of people. (E-mail: khalilbdh@gmail.com)
