In November 1980, when Mohinder Singh Gujral, took charge of the Indian Railways as the chairman of Railway Board, the Indian economy had just begun showing signs of recovering from a major economic setback. India’s gross domestic product had declined by about five per cent in 1979-80. A new government, headed by Indira Gandhi, was in place in early 1980 and had begun initiating steps to revive the economy.
One of those steps was the appointment of Gujral as the chairman of Railway Board. After a short stint with the Indian Army, Gujral had joined the Indian Railways in 1948. When he was appointed to head the Railway Board, Gujral had served the Indian Railways for about 32 years and had reached the age of 57 years. In the normal course, he should have retired in a year’s time, but Gujral got two more years instead. In the process, he changed the way the Indian Railways ran its goods haulage business.
Goods transportation by the Indian Railways moved up marginally from 193 million tonnes in 1979-80 to 196 million tonnes in the following year. The Gujral effect, however, showed in 1981-82, when goods movement by railways went up by 13 per cent to 221 million tonnes. In 1982-83, the rise in goods transportation by the Indian Railways was modest at three per cent, which in those days of relatively low economic growth was considered a decent performance.
What did Gujral do to achieve that dramatic rise in railway goods movement in one year? He allowed the goods trains to carry more load in each wagon. The increased freight load by eight tonnes for each wagon meant a one-third increase in the Indian Railways’ carrying capacity. He ensured a longer and extended run by goods trains without changing the locomotive engines. If the practice till then was to change the locomotive engine for a goods train on its Delhi-Mumbai run at two or four points during the journey, Gujral had ordered that the number of engine changes would be only at one or two points. This reduced the time a rake took to reach its destination. The new Railway Board chairman also reduced the frequency of checking wagons and tracks during a trip. This led to a reduction in the frequency of manual checks on wagons and tracks at different stations on the route, resulting in fewer causes of delay.
Was safety compromised? There were howls of protest from within the Indian Railways in those days that carrying more load on the same tracks or reducing the frequency of checks or change of locomotive engines could result in accidents. Gujral, however, remained unmoved and introduced the changes on a trial basis. His argument was that improvements in technology and the use of better quality rails should result in tangible gains for the Indian Railways. The three-pronged Gujral formula was aimed at realising such gains.
Gujral left the Indian Railways in 1983 and soon thereafter his formula was abandoned. But almost 22 years later, the same formula was used when Lalu Prasad was the railways minister, and to great effect and the benefit of the Indian Railways.
Immediately after completing his tenure at the Railway Board, Gujral joined Coal India Limited as its chairman. The coal producing behemoth then was suffering from industrial unrest with trade unions virtually deciding what the management should be doing to produce more or less coal. One of Gujral’s first decisions soon after taking charge at Coal Bhavan in Kolkata in 1983 was to shift the office of his chief public relations officer next to his own. A tough manager had realised that he needed to get his communication with stakeholders right if he wanted to remain effective.
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Gujral’s colleagues in Rail Bhavan and Coal Bhavan recall that he was tough and unwilling to compromise on an issue where he knew he was right. An emissary of a minister in Indira Gandhi’s government then (who also happens to be a minister in the present government of Manmohan Singh) had once visited Gujral with a recommendation for a favour. Gujral made no secret of his anger and tore off the recommendation letter in front of the emissary. He was equally tough in his dealings with Coal India’s trade unions and enforced the principle of pay cut for the number of days for which a striking employee remained absent from work.
A tough public sector manager, who brooked no interference either from the politicians or from trade unions, died on May 4. After completing his Coal India tenure, Gujral was involved with several private sector companies. But his death last Friday was almost unnoticed by either the government, the Indian Railways, where he served for 35 years, or Coal India Limited. Gujral, like any other professional, may have had several shortcomings. But the forthright and effective manner in which he led the Indian Railways and Coal India should be an inspiration for all managers, including those who are in the private sector.