Speed, Service, Safety

Pakistan Railways is dead; long live Pakistan Railways!

In my article On Extentions, dated March 27, I wrote: “Saeed Akhtar has been given an extension as GM Railways. He has the reputation of someone who always keeps a briefcase by his side and apparently is on very good terms with Bilour.” On the 30th, an accountability court granted NAB a 15-day remand for the GM, for selling scrap on lower rates. Defence counsel Advocate Asad Butt maintains that his client has been wrongly accused, adding that the ministry handled the contract and that his client had nothing to do with it. The court has fixed April 14 as the next date of hearing.

Kamran Khan has done a lot of reports on corruption in the buying of railway engines, but the whole issue had caught my attention when I got to know that Saeed Akhtar was given a straight third extension after his retirement! Railway scrap has said to have made industrialists in Pakistan – Nawaz Sharif has been allegedly accused of scrap stealing too. From dopers to GMs, scrap attracts everybody; in a country where railway lines and live high-voltage power lines are stolen, impossible is nothing.

From booking clerks to operations, management, ticketing and Inspector of Works – which is a scale-16 job that requires lacs in bribes to get appointed – there is corruption in each and every department of PR. TV channels often use railway stations and engine sheds for shooting and if you are willing to part with around 5k, the staff is happy to let you use engines like a rented bicycle although an engine consumes more than Rs 3500 worth of diesel on ignition alone, not to mention direct stealing and selling of the fuel. Railway unions provide ample cover for all these activities – Peoples Labour Union and Jamaat-e-Islami’s PREM union are especially notorious.

PR also has its own police. Originally this force wasn’t a deterrent for thieves and other anti-social elements because let alone facing up to dacoits, it was scared to the marrow of the local policemen. It’s true that a railway police official used to travel with every train, but he was regarded by all and sundry as a harmless individual, like the vice-captain of a cricket team. (I must acknowledge here that there are rare but notable exceptions. Case in point: our very own M. Hafeez, who despite having an average of 27 after hundred odd ODIs, can’t be messed with, on account of being the undisputed Professor.) Thankfully, the impotence of the Railway police is a thing of the past now; ever since there is an IG, DIG and DSP deputed for railway police, they aren’t afraid of anybody anymore; although some haters maintain that this has resulted in institutionalising of corruption. Well you can’t please everybody.

It is a myth that the PR once used to earn out of passenger trains. Even at the best of times, it was considered great if it managed to break even, because it was more of a social service. The Railways’ real earning was transportation of goods to and from the Karachi port. Ten trains were dispatched every day; now it has dropped to two a month. The main reason behind it is said to be the lack of engines. Bilour saab ordered 69 engines, all turned out unfit to work; and instead of fixing them, he ordered 70 more! But there is another factor involved too: the Railways transport lost its credibility: the way things go missing from NATO containers, the cargo started getting stolen and appearing in markets.

And then there is the NLC. It started getting a lot of business that traditionally PR enjoyed. That is the difference between an organised and an unorganised institution. This can also be seen in Balochistan, where markets are being constructed and there is some infrastructure development as well, but people are wondering why all of it is being done by the FC? Where is the local government? People of disputed Kashmir also have similar issues with India.

PR has a lot of land in Mayo Gardens and in Khanewal, Rorhi, Lodheran, Multan, Karachi etc, where it is ‘occupied’ by mostly serving and retired Railways officers, and which can presumably be put to great use with some will. We have all heard about the Royal Palm but that’s not all. A former DS Railways once wrote a letter to a Corps Commander stating that the army had a lot of railway land, and asking for suggestions on how to retrieve it. The CC reportedly advised him to give up the effort, graciously offering to name one road on each land ‘Railway Road’ instead. According to the PR report presented to the SC, 87 acres of land has had so far been retrieved from illegal possession, but that has been mainly by demolishing huts of the poor. According to the report, Pakistan Army is in possession of 1,059 acres, Pakistan Air Force 1.4 acres, Pakistan Rangers 496 acres, Janbaz Force 5 acres, Frontier Constabulary 2.5 acres, Frontier Corps 0.34 acres and FWO 2.3 acres.

While I write all this, an English daily in its epaper reports ‘Railways & Army settle land dispute’, though it is not reported anywhere else, it most probably is true. The report states while some of the land has been retrieved, most of it has been regularised/leased on mutually agreed terms. The question arises if it is based on mutual understanding or it is a Hobson’s choice for PR?

The writer is a member of the band Beygairat Brigade.