Lok Sabha Question No. 247 (STARRED), answered on 2016-08-03
Subject: Recommendations of Railway Committees
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: RAMDAS CHANDRABHANJI TADAS, P. C. MOHAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 247 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03.08.2016

## RECOMMENDATIONS OF RAILWAY COMMITTEES

†*247. SHRI RAMDAS C. TADAS: SHRI P.C. MOHAN:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS   be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has constituted any committee(s) to  review  the  functioning  of  various  wings  of  the  Indian Railways, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the Railways has received the reports from these committees  and  if  so,  the  major  recommendations  made therein to improve the Railways' systems;
- (c) whether the Railways has accepted these recommendations and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the other steps taken to implement the recommendations received from these committees?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI SURESH PRABHAKAR PRABHU)

- (a) to (d): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (d)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  No.  247  BY  SHRI  RAMDAS  C.  TADAS  AND SHRI P.C. MOHAN TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 03.08.2016

REGARDING RECOMMENDATIONS OF RAILWAY COMMITTEES.

- (a) :  In  the  long  history  of  Indian  Railways,  a  large  number  of Committees  have  been  set  up  from  time  to  time  to  examine various issues relating to the Railway working.  During the last two  years,  the  following  important  Committees  have  been  set up:-
- (i) Committee under the Chairmanship of Dr. Bibek Debroy set up in September, 2014;
- (ii)  High Level Committee to identify factors, issues and avenues for improving financial health of Railways headed by Shri D.K.Mittal, set up in  December, 2014;
- (iii)One-man  Committee  headed  by  Dr.  E.Sreedharan  set  up  in November,  2014  to  suggest  proper  system  and  procedures  to ensure  proper  accountability  and  transparency  at  the  General Managers and other functionaries level for taking all Commercial decisions, including that of tendering.
- (b) : Yes, Madam.    The major recommendations  made  by  the Committees are as under :-
- (i) Dr.  Bibek  Debroy  Committee's  major  recommendations pertain to Organizational restructuring, re-organisation/ rationalization  of  multiple  services/cadres,  delegation  of  power, accounting reform, regulatory authority, phase-out of rail budget, separation  of  operations  and  infrastructure  etc.  Many  of  the recommendations  of  this  Committee  were  already  part  of  the Railway Budget Speech 2015-16.

- (ii) D.K.Mittal Committee suggested ways and means to improve   the   financial   health   of   Indian Railways.  It has suggested  short-term,  medium  term,  long-term  measures  for improvement in the areas of goods, passenger tariff revenues.  It has  also  suggested  measures  that  can  be  taken  for  long  term resource mobilization and to improve efficiency and productivity of Indian Railways.
- (iii) Dr. E.Sreedharan Committee's major recommendations are:-
- (1) Decentralisation of purchase of Diesel/Petroleum Oil Lubricant(POL),  Rails,  Sleeper,  Track  machines,  Locomotives, Train  Sets,  Coaches  and  Wagons  to  either  Zonal  Railways  or Production  Units  or  Central  Organization  for  Modernization  of Workshops.
- (2) Delegation of full powers to General Managers for sanction of detailed Estimates, Tenders and Re-appropriation of Funds and substantial enhancement of powers regarding Material modification,  rewards/honorariums  and  other  miscellaneous matters.
- Research  Designs  &  Standards  Organisation  (RDSO)  should have  no  role  in  vendor  approval  and  material  inspection activities.  These  activities  should  be  performed  by  Zonal
- (3) Railways/Production Units.
- (4) Complete transfer of catering to Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

(c) & (d): Several  recommendations  of  the  Committees  have been accepted  for  implementation.  Many  of  the  recommendations such  as  accounting  reforms,  delegation  of  powers  and  resource maximisation etc. also pertain to initiatives already undertaken by the Ministry. A Committee-wise summary of the recommendations is as under:

|   S. No. | Name of the Committee   |   Total No. of recommenda -tions made |   No. of recommendations acted upon/ accepted |   No. of Recommenda- tions partially accepted |
|----------|-------------------------|---------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|-----------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Bibek Debroy Committee  |                                    40 |                                             8 |                                             2 |
|        2 | D.K. Mittal Committee   |                                   239 |                                            69 |                                            17 |
|        3 | E. Sreedharan Committee |                                   167 |                                            67 |                                            45 |

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