DNA Edit: Goals vs theatrics

Infrastructure development has a frustratingly slow arc of progress. Irrespective of the will of the political establishment, constructing public infrastructure that meets people’s needs is a task that spans over years and often tends to overshoot the budgeted estimates.

Unquestionably, this is a job that falls squarely in the domain of administration and public governance. By milking political brownie points out of such infrastructural deficits, political parties only attest to their aptitude for adding fuel to the fire rather than contributing to the larger good in the long run.

Behaviour of this kind has been seen from MNS chief Raj Thackeray, who, in the aftermath of the heartrending Elphinstone station stampede, has been issuing threats that he will not allow a single brick of the bullet train project to be laid. In the myopic and politically motivated worldview of Thackeray, acting as a roadblock to the bullet train project is equivalent to ensuring that funds will be allocated for the foot-overbridges (FOBs).

Nothing can be farther from reality. The bullet train project is being built on funds lent by Japanese International Cooperating Agency for a period of 50 years and at an incredible interest rate of just 0.1 per cent. By the time the project is up and running, it will lend a boost not just to the local economies of Maharashtra and Gujarat, but will also trigger benefits for a host of auxiliary industries.

However, nuanced explanations on the economic benefits of a project always lose out to populist calls for sudden transformational change. Undeniably, the Elphinstone station tragedy points to a glaring lack of suitable railway infrastructure, and the BJP government is facing more than its share of lashing from the media and the common man. However, citizens, one hopes, will have better sense to examine the multifold remedial plan laid out by newly appointed Railways Minister Piyush Goyal, than to be taken in by the fallacious logic of Thackeray.

The crushing gravity of the tragedy is not lost on Goyal, who chaired a nine-hour-long meeting with officials post the tragedy and has given his go-ahead to whatever spend is necessary to ensure the safety of passengers. What’s more, in the meeting chaired by Goyal, a 150-year old convention — as per which FOB’s were considered passenger amenities and not items under passenger safety — has been overturned.

Consequently, additional escalators have been sanctioned at Mumbai suburban stations, which witness heavy footfall at peak hours. Details for the same will be finalised in 15 days and work will begin soon. One must understand that the problems of the Railways are legacy problems passed on to the current regime from its predecessors, namely, the UPA government that concentrated solely on carrying out stopgap arrangements rather than on fundamental operational reforms.

Goyal has more than proved his worth in the Power Ministry and has shown himself to be a true-blue administrator. We must resist the incitement and give Goyal a chance to metamorphose the Railways, albeit gradually.