Editorial
Separate ministry for railway
It is a move long overdue
GIVEN the importance of railway in modern-day communications, the recommendation by the parliamentary committee on the communications ministry to the Prime Minister to put Bangladesh Railway (BR) in charge of a fully-fledged ministry is a welcome move.
Contrasted with many other developing nations including our next-door neighbour India, where railway has been modernised with phenomenal improvement in the quality of its service, in Bangladesh it remains a neglected sector. Railway being the safest and cheapest mode of transport, in a country as populous as Bangladesh, it should have by now become the chief mode of transportation for both passengers and goods. And far from expanding, the railway network has rather shrunk over the years.
While appreciating the parliamentary body's suggestion, one needs also to bear in mind that just the addition of a new ministry to the government will not suffice to rescue BR from its present plight. The sole focus of BR's having a ministry is that it should get its due importance and budgetary provision as a mode of transport that is no less important than the road network, which has traditionally been enjoying the highest attention in terms of allocation from the communications ministry. Though we often hear of developing a multi-modal transport system, through integrating the railway, the road transport and the waterways, in practice, however, things have grown in a lopsided fashion at the expense of the railway. In the process, the railway has not only been sidelined, its assets such a lands have been grabbed by different vested quarters.
Against this backdrop, the agenda of breathing new life into BR essentially involves restoration of all its land resources under its own possession, modernising it through replenishing the rolling stock with fresh supply of inventory and so on. At the same time, its management has to be overhauled and if necessary the service of experts has to be hired to improve its technical standard and level of efficiency. The organisation has to be adequately staffed with quality manpower. The improvement of BR's management also implies putting an end to squandering of its resources through looting and plundering.
The country is ideally suited to a wide network of railway service. We have built many new bridges to improve the road network. Some of those can well be linked to the expanded railway network. And in this way, the BR can be developed into a vibrant communication entity.
But to attain the objective, the government will need to lay down clearly the terms of reference of the new ministry it is thinking of creating.
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