New Delhi: Chairing the first meeting of the 'Kayakalp Council' for Railways' revamp, noted industrialist Ratan Tata is Wednesday understood to have suggested an incentive- driven mechanism for employees resolving through innovative ideas problems faced by the public transporter.
At the meeting here which was attended by senior railway officials and railway union leaders, the Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Sons group also made it clear that all the stakeholders should be on the "same page" for the betterment of the railways.
"Tata said that the Council would work in close cooperation with everybody concerned and be on the same page for the betterment of Indian Railways and would not be in conflict with anybody as there is shared objective of making the Railways better," an official release said.
Tata also discussed about identifying global benchmarks both for operations and maintenance.
"Tata favoured the idea of instituting a system for giving suitable reward to those for coming out with solution to problems," said a Council member, who attended the meet.
The Council was unanimous that railways should encourage its employees to come up with innovative ideas as suggested by Tata to address specific problems and also reward the innovator adequately, he said.
"He said it will be useful to showcase improvements even in small increments in various aspects like equipments processes, procedures, consumer acceptance etc," the release said.
It was decided to collect various data concerning railways of other countries like China, France, Germany and UK to fix a target for Indian Railways, the Council member said.
The two hour-long meeting held at the Rail Bhawan was also attended by Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and Minister of State for Railway Manoj Sinha along with all the Railway Board members.
General Secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen M Raghavaiah and General Secretary of All-India Railwaymen's Federation Shiv Gopal Mishra also attended the meeting.
Referring to the cleanliness drive undertaken by the Railways across the country, Tata suggested involvement of public in the exercise being carried out at the rail premises.
The meeting also focussed on increased interface with customers and customer satisfaction.
Constitution of Kayakalp Council was announced in the Rail Budget 2015-16 with the aim of of business re-engineering and introducing a spirit of innovation in the Railways.
Addressing the Council, Prabhu said that Indian Railways, on one hand, has to fulfill its social obligation of providing affordable travel facilities to the public in different parts of the country while on the other hand, has to work as a commercial organisation earning profit.
"We need to balance these two requirements and function in a manner so that best services could be provided to the people at affordable price and the Railways emerge as an effective engine of growth for country's economy," he said.
Prabhu also said that while it is necessary to formulate a future roadmap for expansion and growth of Indian Railways, but at the same time we need to understand and address present challenges which cannot be overlooked.
He pointed out that the public transporter has a huge dedicated manpower which is its inherent strength.
"We all have to collectively work to make Indian Railways as no. 1 railway in the world, so that it can serve people and nation in the best possible manner."
Railway Board Chairman A K Mittal said that the Railway Board will work in close cooperation with the Council.
Mittal said that Indian Railways in its 160 years of existence has grown substantially in all aspects but it further needs to undertake more technological upgrading to improve services.
