Indian Railways Will Close Down These Departments, Schools, Factories: Big Restructuring

Change is the only constant, they say. With constant innovation in each spectrum of life happening, it is an invitation to death if you are not innovating and adapting your organization according to the changing business environment. And it seems like Indian Railways has wholeheartedly embraced the mantra of change.

Indian Railways planning a major restructuring

The Indian Railways is heading for a major restructuring. This proposed plan could lead to the closure of major establishments, the merger of decades-old organizations, and private participation in the running of its schools and hospitals.

The recommendations, which have been drafted by Principal Economic Adviser Sanjeev Sanyal for Rationalisation of Government Bodies and Proposal for the Ministry of Railways are suggesting winding up the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE), the Central Organisation for Modernisation Of Workshops (COFMOW), Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and Indian Railways Organisation for Alternative Fuel (which was already closed on September 7, 2021).

IRCTC will play a major role

CRIS is an autonomous society that develops software capacity in the railways that includes passenger ticketing, freight invoicing, passenger train operations, management of train crew, and management of fixed/rolling assets. The panel has recommended winding up CRIS and is asking the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to take up the charge of these tasks.

Also, RailTel, which is one of the largest telecom infrastructure providers in the country would be merged with IRCTC. The panel has also proposed Rail India Technical and Economic Service (RITES) to take over Braithwaite & Co Ltd., (BCL).

The panel has also recommended the merger of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL), which implements projects relating to the creation and augmentation of the railway infrastructure, with the Indian Railway Construction Limited (IRCON), a specialized infrastructure construction organization.

Merger of schools and factories

The Principal Economic Adviser recommended the merger of railway schools with Kendriya Vidyalayas or handing them over to the respective State Governments.

 “operating the railway schools takes up a large amount of time of the railway management whose core competence is in running and maintaining the railway service,” the panel said.

Another major reform recommended was the establishment of Central Public Sector Enterprises to bring eight production units under its fold. If this plan undergoes the assets, infrastructure, and employees of these eight production units will be transferred to the proposed CPSE.

The list of eight production units includes three coach factories — Integral Coach Factory, Chennai; Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala; Modern Coach Factory, Rae-Bareli; three locomotive manufacturing units – Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Chittaranjan; Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi; Diesel Loco Modernisation Works, Patiala, and two Rail Wheel Units at Yelahanka (Bengaluru) and Bela (Bihar).