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An enviable track record
 With so much happening on the railways front in Tamil Nadu, there was one face that was becoming familiar to most people.
Southern Railway general manager V Anand was there whether a track was being re-laid, or a new train was being flagged off or if there was a problem to be solved.
It was his immense experience and positive attitude towards his work that took him to great heights. Sincerity and hard work still seem to pay!
After an eventful 41 years, Anand bid goodbye to his job, retiring on July 31, 2004.
Anand is a science graduate from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and joined
Indian Railways as a special class apprentice in 1963. After completion of his training at the Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Jamalpur, during the course of which he graduated from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London and Institution of Production Engineers, London, he was posted to Southern Railway. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers.
He was subsequently transferred to the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, and thereafter to the Indian Railways Research Designs and Standards Organisation, Lucknow. He worked as divisional railway manager, Western Railway, Bhavnagar (Gujarat), and then as chief mechanical engineer, South Eastern Railway, Kolkata, before taking up the assignment as general manager of Southern Railway in January 2002.
Being a general manager, he gave top priority to the welfare of the public and the satisfaction of passengers. Many projects were completed under his able leadership.
Passengers have contacted him with various problems and have got appropriate solutions. It may also be stated that during his tenure as general manager of Southern Railways, Tamil Nadu got many new trains and many projects sanctioned.
Some of the schemes completed in his tenure as GM-Southern Railways are:
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Vriddhachalam - Vadalur
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Virudhunagar - Rajapalayam
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Kayankulam - Cheppadu -
Haripadu doubling
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Kayankulam - Mavelikara doubling
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Chengalpattu - Tambaram
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Cuddalore - Vadalur.
Excerpts from his interview:
What are the memories you carry?
 One of the incidents fresh in my mind is the Bhopal gas tragedy. That incident illustrated the fact that railwaymen go towards danger, we never shy away from danger. When the entire
Bhopal city police could not tackle the crisis, the general manager (Central Railway), who was on inspection in the north, rushed to the spot. I went from
Itarsi with a team of officials.
Another incident which remains fresh in my mind is the Orissa super cyclone in 1999, which showed that the Indian railways is not just a transport organisation. We are a family of 16 lakh people.
What do you think about privatisation of Railways?
We (Indian Railways) are part of the life and soul of the nation. Talk of privatisation does not appreciate the fact that the Indian Railways is next to the Indian armed forces in its dedication. Indian Railways can be corporatised only when the Indian armed forces are corporatised or privatised because of Indian Railway's unique social obligation.
Maybe some of the departments like bed linen, cleaning of coaches, catering and issue of tickets can be privatised. Other core areas like operating of trains and maintenance of tracks and workshops should not be privatised. Manning of gates at unmanned level-crossings should be done by
local bodies.
I don't object to privatisation totally. All construction work is given to private contractors by which many unemployed people get employment. Indian industries are not mature
enough to take over all the railway activities.
The British government privatised track and signal maintenance with the company named 'Rail Track'. It led to several fatal accidents. There was no engineer in the company's board of directors.
Why do people always target trains during a protest?
The freedom struggle was against the
British government and at that point of time people targeted railways, but the same feeling probably
continues in people's mind and so any protest against the government is aimed at trains. People, without realising that the trains are operated with their money, target the railways.
I've seen many rail roko protests: students protesting a fee hike, silk worm growers wanting better prices, a protest against the US attack on Iraq, and so on. People resort to rail roko for release of water in one area and in another area, people do rail rokos if the water is let out.
The reason for this is that in the past railways was the most visible part of the government. It was there in every nook and corner with millions of commuters. Railways represented the raj all through the freedom struggle and trains were attacked on many occasions.
About accidents in unmanned level-crossings?
I witnessed an accident in Maharashtra when the accident was caused by the road driver and 53 persons lost their lives. An additional general manager, South Eastern Railway, with a secretary of the Central government and with five joint secretary-level officers rushed to the spot and
arranged for assistance. But nobody questions the road-users when such accidents take place.
An accident took place in the Konkan Railways some months ago, which was a natural calamity. Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav cancelled all his engagements and rushed to the spot with four principal-level officers. So railways alone cannot be blamed for accidents.
Your experience with the media?
 My first experience with the media was 40 years ago in the Calcutta suburban. There was a small track fracture in the Calcutta suburban. It was reported in a leading English daily that a major train accident was averted and thousands of passengers escaped unhurt. The same day there was a boat accident tragedy in which 200 people died. It was reported on the 7th page as a single column news item.
When I asked the reporter of that newspaper about the news, he said fracture in the rail in railways is news, but boat tragedies happen daily, so it is not news. This shows the immense faith they have in the railways.
I believe any report from the media is an expression of people's faith; it is like a black spot on the white billiards ball. Any complaint should be taken up immediately. I followed this principle all along for 40 years. The motto for me is, "Tell me your grievances, tell others your satisfaction."
There is a additional general manager for grievances and I have a post box, e-mail and other ways of receiving public complaints.
Have you made any recommendations?
I have recommended a common ticketing system for bus and train services in the
Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) between Chennai Beach and Velachery.
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