Increase efficiency, not zones
The Bangladesh Railway’s (BR) revenue income was Tk 352.47 crore in the fiscal 2013-14 against revenue expenditure of Tk 781.88 crore according to the Bangladesh Economic Review, transpiring a loss of Tk 429.41 crore. In the fiscal 2012-13, the revenue income and the expenditure were Tk 804.26 crore and Tk 1562.38 crore respectively. The amount of loss stood at Tk 758.12 crore whereas the Indian Railways earn profit of Tk over 30,000 Rs per year. It means that IR is more efficient than BR.
The organogram and administrative structure of the Bengal Railway (BR) during the British rule and when we were part of Pakistan were simple and effective. The railway was divided into five divisions namely Paksey, Lalmonirhat, Dhaka, Bhairob Bazar and Chittagong. After the emergence of Bangladesh, the headquarters were shifted in Dhaka from Chittagong under a newly established Railway Board (RB). But the RB was abolished in 1982 and instead a Railway Division under the Ministry of Communication was created. However, the five divisions remained unchanged because of their prompt service and effectiveness.
In 1995, the railway was divided into two zones and the distress began. The then government retired a large number of employees under golden handshake as per the World Bank suggestion. But there was no new recruitment and the trend continues.
We think that the government should make the five divisions namely Paksey, Lalmonirhat, Dhaka, Bhairob Bazar and Chittagong rich with more skilled hands instead of creating four new zones.
BR needs to improve its efficiency level, not number of Zones/Divisions. And what is more important for BR is to drive out its ‘black-cats’ who are more apt in corruption than the works they are assigned to.
Abdullah Akber
Dhaka
