INDIAN RAILWAYS, TRULY THE LIFELINE OF THE NATION

December 13, 2001 was a frightfully chilly morning in Bikaner. Back then I was posted as Senior Divisional Operations Manager (Sr.DOM) of Bikaner Division then part of the gargantuan Northern Railway. Soon news filtered in that a dastardly attack on the hallowed Indian Parliament by ultras from a not-so-friendly neighbour had taken place.

The Indian Parliament is one of the prominent temples of Indian democracy. This terror attack drew widespread opprobrium from across the country and from around the world. Indians and the armed forces bayed for blood.

Within a matter of few days, the Indian Railways ran Military Special trains or Military Specials for short, from all over the country to beef up our western and north-western borders by mobilising our defence forces. This exercise called “Operation Parakram”, deployed Military Specials on Ferozepur, Bikaner and Jodhpur divisions of the erstwhile Northern Railway.

The entire border from Bhatinda, Ferozepur, Sri Ganganagar through Hindumalkot, Hanumangarh, Suratgarh and Lalgarh, right up to Pokhran, Munabao and Jaisalmer was fortified by the presence of the armed forces, transported via Military Specials. As Sr.DOM, Bikaner, I was part of the logistics team handling these special trains. It was thrilling in a way and an incredible learning experience handling such a huge volume of specials.

Today two decades later we are confronting yet another enemy. Some call it nemesis in the shape of a microorganism -the novel Corona virus- which has claimed several thousands of lives globally.

The vicelike grip of the pandemic has spread, lives have been lost and social distancing and wearing masks has become the order of the day. In such a scenario prudent governments the world over have clamped a lockdown in order to arrest the spread of the virus. Today we in India are in the middle of Lockdown 4.0.

One of the hardest hit sections, the vast numbers of migrant labour across our metropolises, grew restless as the lockdown continues, yearning to get back home; to their safe sanctuaries.

It has been pathetic watching them hop on to freight trains, the odd truck, Parcel Expresses or as a last, desperate resort walking thousands of kilometres to reach their hometowns; precious lives have been lost in this misadventure.

As in 2001, Indian Railways swung into action to help transport the hapless migrants. Certainly there was symbolism is operating “Shramik Specials” beginning May 1, 2020, which should not be grudged by the socialists and communists.

This is indeed a humungous exercise which involves meticulous planning and execution. It is a threefold exercise to ensure movement of stranded migrant labour in various states.

The first step is to tie up with the state governments, assessing the humungous numbers who are left grounded in various states and coordinating at the district levels.

Second is planning of passenger rakes, their maintenance and placement at the designated terminals to begin the exercise of transporting vast numbers of men, women and children.

And finally after screening and checking their credentials, maintaining social distancing, the train chugs to the point of their disembarkment.

Presently posted at Prayagraj as Principal Chief Operations Manager, North Central Railway, I was scrolling through the flurry of messages on WhatsApp. My eyes suddenly lit up seeing a WhatsApp message from Additional Member (Commercial), Railway Board this morning (May 20, 2020) congratulating the Coaching Directorate, Railway Board and all zonal railways for having run 200 plus “Shramik Specials”  in a single day! It was not a mere congratulatory message, but one of unalloyed appreciation for the tremendous amount of planning and monitoring that goes into an operation of such magnitude.

The Indian Railways has operated 1,414 “Shramik Special” trains till May 20, ferrying around 18.5 lakh migrants back home, to safety, security and the comfort of their loved ones.

Indeed Indian Railways is the lifeline of the nation; whether in peacetime, or during war or even fighting a pestilence.