Sitting in the coach of ludhiana new delhi Shatabdi express, i notice an old man from a visible rural background sitting with his wife. While everyne else is casually enjoying the pleasant journey, i see the man struggling to understand what the caterer had just placed in front of him in the name of evening snacks and tea neatly packed and labelled. It is only after the caterer comes back and with a reassuring smile (rare isn't it) explains to him what all was there in those packs, some of which i believe were only labelled in english, that he dared to open it for him and his wife.
Looking at the whole episode, i was filled with a mix of emotions. For once i was immensely happy to see that even rural people of limited awareness and resources have started to opt for the so called elitist trains like shatabdi and rajdhani express. Definitely its a healthy sign of burgeoning economy and inclusive growth.
Secondly I was joyful looking at sheer innocence and calmness on the face of the couple that is often missing these days. I was especially amazed at the way we stick to our lifestyle, looking at the lady who chose to sit crosslegged on the reclining seat.
But soon i felt a sense of incompleteness in the whole idea as rarity of such passengers in the train was quite noticeable. Definitely the extra comforts, the food etc. provided is not a part of the necessary public services and even astonishes europeans who otherwise have one the most advanced, extensive and comfortable railway network. But still the fares of non-general coaches of railways are prohibitive for a major chunk of our population while the general coach infrastructure is grossly insufficient and can hardly be called a service, in terms of the real meaning of the word.
That brings me to the next issue. That is about the inequality that i feel even govt sectors are promoting. Indian railways is glaring example of promotion of class consciousness in our country. Its not wrong to provide multiple choices to the consumer in terms of his affordability and requirements. But while we provide the best to the creme de la creme, investing all that we can from the meagre budget, we completely ignore the services availed by the lesser beings, which are in shambles. Anyone who has travelled by Indian railways would know what i mean by that.
I understand that with rising fuel prices, costs of construction etc the train fares need to be appropriately adjusted. But while they chose to ignore the basic infrastructure, they never fail to upgrade quality of services in first class or the number of trains for the rich. In the whole tug of war of fund crunch and politics, it puts all the more pressure on the infrastructure which is already unsustainable. We have already have had experiences of stampedes on platforms, over-bridge collapses and accidents involving people being runover by trains.
Its high time we completely overhaul the policy of our railways that is currently more of convenience, made by opportunist ministers and corrupt officials, to a more balanced one. And at the same time the management should also be more professional and citizen centric which empowers them, be it through timely and clear announcements, clean and punctual trains, a friendly staff or clearly multingual labels on food packs!!
Looking at the whole episode, i was filled with a mix of emotions. For once i was immensely happy to see that even rural people of limited awareness and resources have started to opt for the so called elitist trains like shatabdi and rajdhani express. Definitely its a healthy sign of burgeoning economy and inclusive growth.
Secondly I was joyful looking at sheer innocence and calmness on the face of the couple that is often missing these days. I was especially amazed at the way we stick to our lifestyle, looking at the lady who chose to sit crosslegged on the reclining seat.
But soon i felt a sense of incompleteness in the whole idea as rarity of such passengers in the train was quite noticeable. Definitely the extra comforts, the food etc. provided is not a part of the necessary public services and even astonishes europeans who otherwise have one the most advanced, extensive and comfortable railway network. But still the fares of non-general coaches of railways are prohibitive for a major chunk of our population while the general coach infrastructure is grossly insufficient and can hardly be called a service, in terms of the real meaning of the word.
That brings me to the next issue. That is about the inequality that i feel even govt sectors are promoting. Indian railways is glaring example of promotion of class consciousness in our country. Its not wrong to provide multiple choices to the consumer in terms of his affordability and requirements. But while we provide the best to the creme de la creme, investing all that we can from the meagre budget, we completely ignore the services availed by the lesser beings, which are in shambles. Anyone who has travelled by Indian railways would know what i mean by that.
I understand that with rising fuel prices, costs of construction etc the train fares need to be appropriately adjusted. But while they chose to ignore the basic infrastructure, they never fail to upgrade quality of services in first class or the number of trains for the rich. In the whole tug of war of fund crunch and politics, it puts all the more pressure on the infrastructure which is already unsustainable. We have already have had experiences of stampedes on platforms, over-bridge collapses and accidents involving people being runover by trains.
Its high time we completely overhaul the policy of our railways that is currently more of convenience, made by opportunist ministers and corrupt officials, to a more balanced one. And at the same time the management should also be more professional and citizen centric which empowers them, be it through timely and clear announcements, clean and punctual trains, a friendly staff or clearly multingual labels on food packs!!
