LAHORE: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has taken a decision to restore old organizational set up of the Railways Board, says Javed Anwar, the new General Manager (Operations) of the Pakistan Railways.

“With some changes the Railway Board will be an autonomous body comprising technical hands having expertise in railways. In future the Pakistan Railways chairman will be from among the railway men,” said Mr Anwar who would assume charge of the office of GM (Operations) after the retirement of Anjum Pervaiz on Aug 31. The ministry of railways had notified the posting of Mr Anwar on Tuesday (August 26).

For the last 14 years or so, the organisation was being run through an executive committee of the railway board which has no legal basis at all.

The committee was constituted in 2000 when the then minister, Javed Ashraf Qazi, was trying to re-organise the railways in his own manner. The move had drawn criticism from both serving and retired senior officers. In 2005, the then minister of state, Ishaq Khan Khakwani, had raised voice for autonomy of the railway board.

Future chairman from within PR

“Executive committees are there to run private organisations like clubs and other private companies. Running the railways is altogether different from operating a club or a bus service. There are a few experts in the private sector who can successfully operate the rail network,” argued Mr Khakwani who resigned from railways as deputy chief engineer.

In 2011, Sardar Ayaz Sadiq, the then chairman of the National Assembly Standing Committee on Railways, had sought help from the four retired officers in examining an inquiry report prepared by a three-member committee comprising serving principal officers regarding abnormal decrease in availability of locomotives that was seriously affecting freight operation and reducing passenger services.

The four retired principal officers of the Pakistan Railways proposed: “Old organisational setup of the Railway Board may be restored by re-designating the posts of additional general managers into member mechanical, member traffic and member engineering whereas the post of member finance already exists with the ministry of railways.

“The setup was tried for more than three decades without any problem but was changed on the recommendations of Irish consultants appointed by the World Bank,” said retired engineers Asad Saeed, Aurangzeb Khan, Anwar Saeed and Iqbal Khatri.

Mr Asad Saeed and Mr Khan served as general manager (operations) and retired as general managers (M&S) while Mr Anwar Saeed as managing director of Locomotive Factory, Risalpur, and Mr Khatri as additional general manager (passengers).

“The views expressed by senior (serving) officers indicate that there is often a clash of opinion between the chief mechanical engineer and the AGM (mechanical) on technical issues which is damaging for the organisation.

With functioning members of the Railway Board at the ministry in Islamabad deciding all policy matters and general manager (operations) dealing with all day-to-day affairs and acting as chief executive of the Pakistan Railways, the decision making will be smooth and quick which is the need of the hour,” said the “report on deterioration in availability and reliability of locomotives” signed by the four officers.

Published in Dawn, August 28th, 2014