NEW DELHI, Sept 21:
With the Railways department jotted with a series of accidents, newly-installed Minister Piyush Goyal today said they were taking a comprehensive view of the security requirement, before coming out with requisite measures.
Speaking during the 12th National Quality Conclave here, Mr Goyal said during 2004 to 2014, the investment on safety and maintenance of Railways had been very less, which hugely impacted the sector.
”Mr Suresh Prabhu (previous Railways Minister) put the Railways on a fast track to recovery and we will take that further,” he added.
Asked about the measures he was taking, the Minister said, ”I don’t speak in a rush. It’s a big Ministry and I’m just a two week-old Minister. Let me first prepare myself, read the files and study the projects. After that, I will certainly come out with some concrete decisions.”
On a query over the quality of food served in the trains, which has been a subject of scrutiny for some time now, Mr Goyal said he was seized of the issue. ”It is also on my priority list, but you will have to wait for some time to get my full-fledged view on this.”
The Ministry was working on a proposal to get trains run on 100 per cent electricity, bringing down the total expenses to almost 50 per cent of the current costs, he revealed, adding that diesel worth around Rs 16,000 crore was being used to run the trains, apart from coal and other raw material, leading to high operational costs.
Electricity-run trains in Railways will bring down the overall cost to almost 50 per cent, thus saving a huge amount and leading to efficient service.
Urging the citizens of the country to imbibe quality consciousness as part of their culture, Mr Goyal said bringing economic and social core value to a sector is the major function of quality.
The Railway Minister said there was a strong need for Indians to make Quality a part of their day-to-day activities. ”We should understand that unless we change our ‘adjustment psychology’, we cannot succeed.
The ‘Chalta Hai’ attitude needs to be replaced with ‘striving for the best’ and saying no to the second best.”
Giving example of Japan, the Minister said, ”We should also have ‘Zero Tolerance to Bad Quality.” ”It should be our aim, as well as motto, to have the highest standards of quality control in the world. Citizens of the country need to have quality consciousness ingrained in them. It should become a part of our culture.”
The Coal Minister said the quality of coal has improved significantly in the last three years, in terms of grinding. When the coal is crushed to the desired level, it leaves no boulders behind, thus giving out a better product, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, MP Baijayant Panda said growth can be exponential, but it cannot be compromised with quality. Even super powers had to deal with quality issues. he gave example of China, which tackled the baby food controversy with stringent measures. In July 2017, 99.9 per cent baby food products tested by an international agency were found at par with the international standard.
Chairman of the Quality Control of India (QCI) Adil Zainulbhai stressed on the importance of measurement in improving the quality standards. QCI Secretary General Dr Ravi P Singh, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant and DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek participated in the event. (UNI)
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