Delhi Metro – Showing the Way Forward
Elattuvalapil Sreedharan is the name of the person who has shown to the whole nation that it is possible to achieve in spite of the system. He had implemented two important Railway projects – The Konkan Railway network covering rough terrains which was considered impossible to traverse, and more lately, The Delhi Metro.
The Government departments and their projects are generally considered to be done at a snail’s pace. There are a lot of allegations of favoritism, when it comes to the appointments of staff and allegations of corruption when it comes to the awarding of contracts.
There was one Government initiated project that did not have any of the above. It was the Delhi Metro (Delhi Metro Railway Corporation) headed by the dynamic Mr. Sreedharan who has lived on this planet for more than three quarters of a century. The Delhi Metro was completed ahead of schedule and within the allocated budget. You can read the interview given by Mr. Sreedharan to Rediff, in this Rediff article
If any of you have had an opportunity to see, from inside, how some of the Government Departments function, this is a huge step forward. This is an important example that needs to be emulated across the system.
Switzerland, for example, has an excellent and Integrated Public Transportation System. It is so much integrated that one ticket is enough to take you from Airport to a point A in Train, from point A to point B in a Bus, from point C to point D in a Boat (or) Cable Car – This in spite the fact that all these services are run by a host of Government and Private Operators. You can read more about this Public Transportation system in Switzerland Here
Why can’t we expect the same in our country too? What Mr. Sreedharan has shown with Delhi Metro is that, nothing is impossible with the determination of one person, in his case and the determination of the people, elsewhere. Let’s hope that the way the other Government Departments function would change soon. And more importantly I hope that the people would demand to see the changes!
Destination Infinity
we can't have it in our country for there are too many people and they abuse the system too…
That's right…. "Edhu ungal sotthu" is quite misleading i guess….
Destination Infinity