Restructuring of Railways: Debroy Panel submits the Interim Report

Press Trust of India  |  New Delhi March 31, 2015  Limited role for Railway Board, revamping of HR functions, and switch over to commercial accounting of railway functions are some of the recommendations made by the Debroy Committee in its interim report to Railways today.

The high-level committee headed by economist Vivek Debroy, who is a NITI Ayog Member now, was constituted six months ago to suggest ways for restructuring of the Railway Board and revamping the public transporter into a financial viable organisation.

According to sources, the committee in its interim report has also suggested rationalisation of zones and divisions; decentralisation of power to general managers and DRMs.

The panel has also taken note of an estimate of the Railways’ financial needs and suggested appropriate framework and policies to raise resources, both internally and from outside the government.

Among others, the mandate of the committee included reorganising and restructuring the board and subsequently the department to separate policy making from operations and encourage inter-departmental coordination.

Other members of the panel include former Cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar; Gurcharan Das, former chairman and managing director of Procter and Gamble; Partha Mukopadhyay, senior fellow, Centre for Policy Research; Ravi Narain, former managing director of the National Stock Exchange among others.

The committee was also asked to recommend steps to mobilise resources for major projects and help set up a Rail Tariff Authority.

Currently, Railways works on a top-down hierarchical model with a six-member Railway Board which implements and monitors policies and takes all key decisions.

The Railways is categorised into 16 geographical zones, employing about 1.3 million people with a cadre-based department like mechanical, engineering and electrical.

The committee has made field visits to different zones including Kolkata, Mumbai to interact with staff and get a perspective.