Legend who erred
I, like many others, have always been in awe of committed and dedicated professionals like Metro topboss E Sreedharan. He has had a track record as solid as the projects he has executed, the prime one being, of course, the Konkan Railways.
However, his knee-jerk reaction of putting in his papers after the Zamrudpur collapse which claimed six lives, showed him up as an ordinary mortal. My first reaction to the tragedy was that Sreedharan would be there in a flash, reassessing, recalling and revamping operations. Instead, he decided to hold a Press conference and announce his resignation.
And as it happens with all such resignations, this one too started looking like “meant only for assuaging public ire” after it was hastily turned down by the Government and equally hastily withdrawn by the great man himself.
One, somehow, did not think Sreedharan would step down, especially at the mouth of a crisis. But once he did, one somehow felt convinced he would not withdraw his papers. On both counts, this time, he disappointed.
Not to say, however, that Sreedharan is any less a professional but the entire resignation saga brings home the point that most resignations in the Indian context are ploys by big men and women, either to have themselves absolved of their errors or to get the entire population to back them in their darkest hour.
Politicians are known to use them as an instrument of escape. How many times have you heard, say, the Railways Minister putting in his papers after a major accident? And how many times has it really been accepted?
I am sure, it has never been accepted but it has come many times. Now think of bureaucrats. Do they ever put in their papers, say, if there has been a riot in an area under their charge, or for that matter, even if he/she has been caught on the wrong foot? It never happens, because in administration resignations are taken seriously and the danger of them being accepted is as certain as the sun coming out the next day.
All this is not to say that the Metro chief was just creating a fuss. Perhaps, it was his misjudgement about the now infamous crack that made him feel so responsible that he thought he should not carry on. The incident, an interview of his reveals, has cemented his intention to step down, though not immediately but after the Commonwealth Games.
Like the great Adam Gilchrist who quit international cricket merely because he could not hold on to a catch of VVS Laxman, Sreedharan too admits of having gotten old and feeling the need to “let the branches grow.”
As it now turns out, Sreedharan who famously never bothered about officialese of the Railway Minister and the Board when he was devising Konkan Railways, did succumb to pressure of time and lack of good contractors. A CAG report indicates that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation scaled down testing requirements in four contracts as these were falling behind schedule. The CAG also says that the Government deliberately did not place the report in Parliament.
Sreedharan, too admitted in a rare interview, that he knew of the Zamrudpur problem, had inspected it personally and was originally of the view that the entire thing be pulled down and made from scratch. However, he took the wrong step of going with the engineers’ view that the crack be tested by actual train load and that’s where he erred.
Erring is human and Sreedharan cannot be judged on one misjudge-ment. However, instead of quitting in a huff, he should have gone into instant damage control. He should have been seen on the site within minutes and after hours and for days.
That, and nothing less, would have made him reclaim his glory, that too with the public applauding all the way to rectification.
However, his knee-jerk reaction of putting in his papers after the Zamrudpur collapse which claimed six lives, showed him up as an ordinary mortal. My first reaction to the tragedy was that Sreedharan would be there in a flash, reassessing, recalling and revamping operations. Instead, he decided to hold a Press conference and announce his resignation.
And as it happens with all such resignations, this one too started looking like “meant only for assuaging public ire” after it was hastily turned down by the Government and equally hastily withdrawn by the great man himself.
One, somehow, did not think Sreedharan would step down, especially at the mouth of a crisis. But once he did, one somehow felt convinced he would not withdraw his papers. On both counts, this time, he disappointed.
Not to say, however, that Sreedharan is any less a professional but the entire resignation saga brings home the point that most resignations in the Indian context are ploys by big men and women, either to have themselves absolved of their errors or to get the entire population to back them in their darkest hour.
Politicians are known to use them as an instrument of escape. How many times have you heard, say, the Railways Minister putting in his papers after a major accident? And how many times has it really been accepted?
I am sure, it has never been accepted but it has come many times. Now think of bureaucrats. Do they ever put in their papers, say, if there has been a riot in an area under their charge, or for that matter, even if he/she has been caught on the wrong foot? It never happens, because in administration resignations are taken seriously and the danger of them being accepted is as certain as the sun coming out the next day.
All this is not to say that the Metro chief was just creating a fuss. Perhaps, it was his misjudgement about the now infamous crack that made him feel so responsible that he thought he should not carry on. The incident, an interview of his reveals, has cemented his intention to step down, though not immediately but after the Commonwealth Games.
Like the great Adam Gilchrist who quit international cricket merely because he could not hold on to a catch of VVS Laxman, Sreedharan too admits of having gotten old and feeling the need to “let the branches grow.”
As it now turns out, Sreedharan who famously never bothered about officialese of the Railway Minister and the Board when he was devising Konkan Railways, did succumb to pressure of time and lack of good contractors. A CAG report indicates that the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation scaled down testing requirements in four contracts as these were falling behind schedule. The CAG also says that the Government deliberately did not place the report in Parliament.
Sreedharan, too admitted in a rare interview, that he knew of the Zamrudpur problem, had inspected it personally and was originally of the view that the entire thing be pulled down and made from scratch. However, he took the wrong step of going with the engineers’ view that the crack be tested by actual train load and that’s where he erred.
Erring is human and Sreedharan cannot be judged on one misjudge-ment. However, instead of quitting in a huff, he should have gone into instant damage control. He should have been seen on the site within minutes and after hours and for days.
That, and nothing less, would have made him reclaim his glory, that too with the public applauding all the way to rectification.
Published July 19, 2009, Sunday Pioneer; http://www.dailypioneer.com/189964/Legend-who-erred.html
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