M.R. SURESH, on a train ride from Agartala to Dharamnagar in the northeast, discovers what a shortfall of civic consciousness and a surfeit of official callousness can do to a “brand-new” wash basin.
“When the train services began three months ago, the people were happy to get their first train to Agartala. But the bogies are in a pathetic shape. My co-travellers were cursing all the governments for neglecting the northeast, although the region provides teak, tea and many natural forest produce and minerals.”
I always wonder how our “‘esteemed'” Railway Minister has managed to hold his own in some of the best B-schools worldwide!!
:-)
Laloo should have shown just Patna, there are 2 flyovers which he started to construct during his rule but took just 7 years to complete during Nitish’s rule..
Even if laloo takes harvard’s for a aerial survey of Bihar they will realise his calibre in terms of deliverables.. This guy is taking credit for work he never did
I think instead of blaming Lalu we should blame people for not knowing how to maintain public property properly… Chewing Pan is more rampant in North than in south. I’ve travelled a lot in train in Chennai Bangalore and Chennai-Mangalore segment and the trains were reasonably clean
All that money and still no change, worst part is that there are no signs of change. We must be ashamed of still feeding over British leftovers. The sanitary system in Trains must change, couldn’t agree more with churumuri on this.
I see that as an obvious sign of improvement. At least people have realized that the “spit is where the sink is.”
And my greeting for the photographer for winning the worlds most disgusting photo award. :)
North-East need not curse, they are being treated on par with the rest of India.
Just imagine what would happened if it had clean sinks, toilets!?
For a change, Biharis would have thrashed people of NE for getting all those luxurious things.
What would have Laloo shown Harvard?
Palace on Wheels! :-D
All the money profited from Railways is to show-and-tell in the Parliament and Election manifesto, & not to fix the shit holes!
Chewing Pan, Khaini, bad hygiene habits are reasons for this issue.
But, on a larger scale, there are serious issues with the way Railways have been handled in last 5 years.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Features/Investors-Guide/UPA-govts-policies-may-halt-Indias-growth/articleshow/4173271.cms?curpg=1
UPA govt’s policies may halt India’s growth
“To add to the government woes, the Railways’ finances are now also showing the strains of last five years of populism and slowdown. The Railways’ operating ratio is estimated to have shot up to nearly 90% in 2009-10 from 76% in FY08. The situation may worsen further, if the downturn leads to a further dip in cargo availability. This may curtail the Railways ability to pay dividends to government and worse still, next rail minister may ask for grants from the general budget to fund various expenditure programmes. ”
However Lalu Prasad has another impact- remember the minister of “Company Affairs”- Gupta from RJD and Satyam fiasco?
While our CBI let Quatrochi scot free because Spanish could not be translated to English and vise-versa, the world is watching how Satyam is buried as its convenient to Congress.
In these troubled times, investors, institutional investor will not accept this and India will be bigger victim.
The people will treat public services badly, the only solution is to improve education and teach people to be more respectful. And this goes for not just pan eating people but to all of us. The last thing we should do is to blame the “Northies” or the “Others”.
On a Hubli-Blr train, a couple of people used the same space to smoke cigarettes and I looked around because the smell was overpowering. A few other gents also noticed this and protested at this anonymous person. When I walked around the compartment later, I found a box of matches on the toilet window which I threw out. Smoking and pan are not just injurious to the user, they irritate fellow citizens too.
Laloo cannot help this. Its the passengers that must take responsibility.
In fact, the best way of ensuring trains and buses remain clean will be to abolish the system of employing cleaners.
Let dirty passengers suffer and wallow in their filth.
http://american.com/archive/2009/the-indian-railway-king
Easily the most balanced account of Lalu’s tenure as Railway Minister.
Agree with both Srinidhi here. We cannot just blame people at the top when we, the people are not willing to do the right thing cleanliness-wise.
Agree with Palahalli and Srinidi Hande…
What can Lalu or any minister or Party can do if the people dont have civic sense..or respect for a fellow human being who is using the same facilities?
Just go to any temple in the United States and see how the supposedly well educated creame-de-la-creame highly technical engineers and doctors keep the shoes in front of the temple. The temple management has clear instructions printed on the wall …still desis ignore it. There are clear instructions inside the temple to keep silence.. Still aunites and uncles cannot resist talking on a cell phone inside the temple..
What can be said of less educated folks. (I refuse to use the word Bihari ..Im no bihari..Im a Kannadiga…actually Biharis are a very smart and practical lot…some of the smartest math wizards I know are biharis )
Lalu has nothing to do with this..
Yeah what can Laloo do if people lack civic sense? There are too many people to enforce anything anyway.
Meant to add Palahalli in my earlier comment, Kshamisabeku.
The people of the NE have some legitimate grievances. The media always turns a blind eye to the issues there.
This is left so that Danny Boyle can make a film on it and earn an Oscar and then Indians can feel proud of it and the media (including Churumuri) gloat over it.