If I had even the slightest inclination for research, I would have found out when exactly the Santiniketan Express – a train dedicated to travellers between Santiniketan and Kolkata – was introduced. The train has been running for at least 20 years and it was the fastest option of commuting between the two destinations for a long time. Not only that, the train was also a favourite among the elderly since it always departs from and arrives at the same platform at the Bolpur station in Santiniketan, saving them the pain of climbing over bridges.
Of late, however, the train has been running late, often exceeding its two-and-a-half hour stretch. At first, we thought it was a one-off thing but since we travel to Kolkata often enough, we realised that the delays weren’t that rare after all. After six months of suffering regular delays, a friend decided to take matters into his hands and filed a query under the Right to Information Act. He wrote to the Information Officer of the Eastern Railways enquiring about the daily arrival time of the train at the Howrah station between two specific dates six months apart.
He didn’t hear from the railways within the stipulated one month and so, shot off a complaint to the appellate authority. After which, almost immediately, he heard from the Eastern Railways. However, the answer he got was quite unexpected — and rather short. All the letter said was that the Santiniketan Express’ punctuality level was at 85 per cent between the dates stipulated in his query!
My friend, extremely unhappy at being fobbed off, immediately wrote to the appellate authority to complain against this complete distortion of his question. The reply he got from the additional divisional railway manager of the Eastern Railway gives an altogether new meaning to right to information. And I quote: “…We record the actual arrival of trains in Control Chart Form. This chart is 610mm X 50 mtr of 80 GSM paper (size:24). I will request you to visit our Control Office at Howrah Divisional railways manager’s Office near Howrah station for physical inspection of our records and vis-à-vis your information seeking…” He also added that one could get the details of the arrival time on a daily basis from the Indian Railways’ website.
As we plan to pack a picnic hamper to make a day-visit to the said office to look up the chart, my mind boggles at the railways’ ability to quickly note the arrival timings of the train in question and calculate the “85 per cent punctuality”.
Newspaper reports have lately commented on the loss-making operations of the Indian Railways. Could it be that in this day of electronic data storage, it is spending far too much on paper? Or is it that data are recorded on paper only to ensure that no retrieval is possible? How do the railways organise their management information system? By deleting the data that someone enters on the website everyday instead of collating it into a database? Such simple questions. But what amazing insights into the workings of the world’s largest railway institution.