Railways condition deteriorated under PTI govt’s watch

Forensic audit points to increased losses, weak management led to 135 accidents in over three years

LAHORE:

In more than three years of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government, two ministers took the helm of the Pakistan Railways but the department continued to pile up losses, according to a forensic audit report of Auditor General of Pakistan.

The railways saw two ministers as its head after the PTI came to power – Sheikh Rashid and Azam Swati. But during their tenures, junior officers were given key posts and important tasks, as a result the losses could not be curtailed, while the number of accidents also rose.

At one point during Sheikh Rashid’s tenure, the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) got active and sought reply from a former DS Munawar Shah on complaints of bogus recruitment in the Rawalpindi division, however, the officer was sent to another department on deputation.

Also during the last three years, at least 135 train accidents occurred, including a fire incident onboard Tezgam that killed 75 passengers. Another major accident occurred in the tenure of Azam Swati, when two trains collided in Sukkur division, killing 70 people.

During Swati’s tenure, more than 400 employees were dismissed from the department, while a large number of officers were recruited from the private sector on huge salaries. Both the minister saw no recruitment to the Railways police, amid efforts to abolish the department.

The forensic audit report puts the total operational deficit of the railways during the last 9 years Rs333.81 billion, while the government subsidies during that period rose from Rs23 to 45 billion annually.

It was pointed out that during Rashid’s tenure, a junior officer was assigned the important post of senior general manager, having responsibility of the railways operations. However, due to his inexperience and lack of work experience on the operation set, 135 train accidents occurred.

Also during Rashid’s tenure, NAB sprung into action on the revelation of bogus recruitment, however, the officer was sent on deputation to the Capital Development Authority (CDA). The rolling stocks of the railways worth tens of millions of rupees were also lost.

After Rashid was replaced by Senator Swati, an army of private sector employees were appointed as officers on huge salaries in order to privatise the railways. Besides, junior and weak officers were given important posts.

As a result, despite increase in the fares, passengers could not get any better travel facilities. Despite a lack of staff in all the eight divisions of Railways, technical and non-technical employees were not recruited, instead the workload was dumped on the remaining staff.

During Sawati’s tenure, efforts were made to abolish the Railway Police – an important section of the department. During that period, the inspector general of the Railway Police did not provide funds to further improve the performance of Railway Police.