We have shortened the decision-making process: Suresh Prabhu

Excerpts from an interview with Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu:

On the UP verdict's impact on the railways
In UP, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led from the front. This decisive victory will help the PM take even bolder decisions and lead the country forward. In a democracy, endorsement is very important and we have got that endorsement in the recent elections. On reforms, the railways has already been moving in the right direction. The causes of the railways' decline over the decades were discussed in the two successive budgets that I had presented. This year, what the finance minister presented is a continuation of the same strategy. So, we are already on the correct path. UP has only provided the necessary political support that any government would look forward to have.

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On implementing new ideas
The railways has been losing market share over the years and thereby revenue too. The fact remains that the railways were not as efficient as it should have been. So, we must adopt a different approach. Out-of-the-box thinking is a must. Yes, we need expertise from outside but, to solve our internal problems, outside expertise alone is not enough. So, in this newly created Transformation Cell, we have selected some of the most promising and relatively younger officers from the railways who will take ideas from outside the railways but closely interact with rail talent to implement them. Thus, we have the best of the two worlds. My view is we will import new ideas from outside the organisation, but the implementation has to be done internally.

On minimising layers of decision-making
In the Transformation Cell, we have shortened the process of decision-making. But such processes have to be seen across the railways. So, I have set up a committee of young EDs (executive directors) to find out how we can reduce the layers in railways’ decision-making. That process is on. Once we implement that, it will be a major administrative change. That the Transformation Cell’s adviser will directly report to CRB (chairman of the Railway Board) is a part of a process that I have laid down. First, I delegated all my power related to posting, promotion and transfers to general managers (it was earlier handled by the Railway Board). We are trying to create a structure where decision-making is decentralised. But power has to come with more responsibilities. We have hence developed key performance indicators for assessing GMs and below. This will bring in a sense of accountability to the entire organisation.