Bibek Debroy outlines five pillars for railway reforms -Governance Now

Bibek Debroy outlines five pillars for railway reforms

NITI Aayog member says public-private partnership may improve the sector

GN Bureau | March 18, 2016

#niti aayog #Railways Reforms #suresh prabhu #bibek debroy

NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy

There are five pillars which can not only improve the financial condition but also accelerate the performance of Indian railways. The five pillars are: transition to commercial accounting; appointing an independent regulator; entry of private players; decentralisation of railways; and unification of entry into the services.

This was highlighted by Bibek Debroy, member, NITI Aayog and chairman, high level committee for railway restructuring, at the Railways Reform and Governance Conclave, organised by Governance Now, held in New Delhi on Friday. The Debroy-headed committee has recommended these suggestions to improve the performance of Indian railways, which has been deteriorating over the last six decades. Majority of these recommendations have been implemented and some are in the process of implementation. “Bringing reforms in railways is not a binary process,” said Debroy.

Debroy also said that around 400 out of 8,500 stations across the country have been shortlisted for the process of modernisation. Highlighting the role of public-private partnership in improvement of the railway sector, he said, “Private players cannot build the entire track line, but auctioning out certain paths to the private players is possible. Also, a whole train cannot be run by private players, but a few coaches can be managed by a private company.”

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