OD INTERVENTIONS
INDIAN RAILWAYS: CHANGING THE TIMES AND CHANGING WITH THE TIMES
INTRODUCTION
Post Independence, the railways symbolized the Nehruvian mix of development and Social Welfare. Railways became the backbone of the public sector industrialization and took development to the remotest corners of the country and were seen more as a means of generating employment than revenues. Soon railways also became a means of bestowing political patronage with the rail ministry being the most sought after ministry for handing out favors. Freight, the bread and butter of railways lost way to passenger traffic, even a small hike in passenger fares could lead to a government losing favor with the masses. The pathetic condition of state state and national highways highways ensured that railways railways did not face any sort of competition. But Indian Railways has always been a harbinger of change rather than a mute witness of it. OBJECTIVES
The objectives for the change can be identified in different facets of Indian Railways. Some of these have been identified as process complexities, technological factors, competition, customer satisfaction and the world trends.
The process of personal reservation system has become complex because there are more than 60,000 seats/ berths reservations per day, seven different categories of trains operating , using 72 types of coaches, seven classes of reservation, more method of calculation of fare is also quite complex as charges are based on the distance, comfort level provided and the transit time. Technological factors which act as impetus for change include availability of budget for IT infrastructure infrastructure and availability of technological knowledge base. Railways also face competition from road transport and probable future competition from airways. The requirement for customer satisfaction and the world trends, i.e. , massive restructuring in Japan, UK, and China also call
for a change in the way the Indian Railways operate, including the systems that run it.
ORGANISATIONAL CHANGE IN INDIAN RAILWAYS
An organization can undergo both planned and unplanned changes. We would be restricting our focus to planned changes. Planned changes can be of two types: a) First order change: Linear and continuous changes b) Second order change: Multidimensional, multilevel, discontinuous, radical change involving reframing of assumptions about the organization and the world in which it operates. In case of Indian Railways, let’s see some of the planned changes, which have taken place over the decades. a) First order changes:
Doubling of railway routes
Rail road kms expansion
Phasing out of steam engines
Replacing diesel engines with electric engines
Meter gauge to broad gauge conversion of routes
Electrification of routes
Third class accommodation abolished
Introduction of AC -2 tier and AC- 3 tier
Introduction of railway catering (IRCTC)
Outsourcing of maintenance operations to private vendors
Replacing four wheeler with eight wheeler wagons b) Second order changes: Usage of IT in Railways
Kolkata Metro Rail
Setting up of National Rail Vikas Yojna
Expansion of Railways Zones from nine to sixteen
CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF USAGE OF IT IN RAILWAYS 60’S
A dedicated skeletal communication network was developed by IR, as a basic requirement for train operation. Plan to progressively computerize railways working was accepted in principle by Management and Labor Unions.
70’s
Pay roll management Inventory control and operating statistics. Deployment of computers for productivity improvement through building up operational data bases.
80’s
Computerization of Passenger Reservation Arrangement
Developing a Freight Operations Information System
Replacing the existing Computers at the Zonal Railways
Production Units with the State of the art Computer System
90’s
Enterprise wide computer System (RAILNET)
IT applications for passenger business area
CONCLUSION
Revolution don’t last, Evolution have to break free from the shackles of political expediency and need a fresh breath of professional management. Right sort of noises are being made in the corridor of power but railways need to move ahead in upgrading its servicers to world class levels, privatizations though not a panacea could be beneficial in locomotive and equipment manufacturing, catering and maintenance of services and even the core of function of running trains based on the Japanese model of co-existence of state as well as private run railways. Railways no longer function in a monopolistic market; they face stiff competition from both roads and airways, to maintain its competitive advantage railways have to look within, invest in its systems and its most important resource, the employee who oils the machinery of IR each and every day.
ORGANISATIONA CHANGE AND DEVELOPMENT
NAME: RAHUL MISHRA ROLL NO: 33 ASSIGNMENT NO: 01 SUBMISSION DATE: 02.12.2010 BATCH: PGDM (2009-11)
