OREANDA-NEWS. January 11, 2012. The Minister of Railways, Shri Dinesh Trivedi has called upon the General Managers to continue to take all necessary measures to ensure safety and security of travelling public as safety has to be the top priority in Railway operations. He emphasized on comprehensive periodical monitoring of safety measures at the field level at regular intervals. The Minister stated this while addressing the two-day conference of General Managers of all Zonal Railways and Production Units which began here today. He said that Railways have to continue to work in such a way that the travelling public could feel assured of their safety.

 Shri Trivedi emphasized that there is a need to maintain accountability at all levels. He said that it is necessary that all the basics of the safety protocols are strictly followed and the staff is fully sensitized to the safety requirements in Railway operations. He said that fault lines if any need to be identified and rectified. There is need for effective training arrangements of the Railway personnel especially those engaged in safety related operations. The lethargy, negligence or carelessness in safety matters on the part of Railway employees cannot be tolerated or allowed. Everybody has to remain ever vigilant and geared up to ensure safe travel. Shri Trivedi said that there should be solutions to the problems which occur through intelligent decisions and brain storming sessions. In depth deep analysis should be constantly undertaken to bring about improvements.

 The Minister of Railways Shri K.H.Muniyappa in his speech at the conference said that that Public Private Partnership (PPP) which has proved successful in other areas could also be implemented in many areas in Railways to generate revenues. Investment revenues at attractive terms should be opened up to attract large scale investments, he added. Referring to the recent trend of State Governments coming forward for cost sharing of the Railway projects, Shri Muniyappa said that there is a need of larger co-ordination between the Railways and the State Governments so that they could jointly remove the hindrances in the implementation of the projects. He also asked Railway Board to expedite the clearance of pending proposals of private investment in Railway sidings. He also called upon Zonal Railways to continue to address the issues of cleanliness of coaches, linen, stations and track. Referring to the importance of manpower, the Minister said that initiatives need to be taken by Indian Railways for training the human resources effectively besides emphasis to be laid on computerization and induction of new technology. Shri Muniyappa emphasized that some more decentralization of powers to Zonal Railways could be considered for facilitating expeditious decision making.

In the beginning, Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Vinay Mittal outlined the agenda of the Conference which included the review of safety performance, freight loading and financial performance, passenger amenities, new works, production units etc. The Railway Boards Members Smt. Vijaya Kanth (Financial Commissioner), Shri K.K.Srivastava, Member Traffic, Shri A. P. Mishra, Member Engineering, Shri Sanjiv Handa, Member Mechanical, Shri A.K.Vohra, Member Staff, Shri Kul Bhushan, Member Electrical were also present at the conference which was attended by General Managers of all the Zonal Railways and Productions Units. The Railway Board Members also addressed the conference on their respective sphere of activities.