Bangladesh Railway in the red constant

While this is not a breaking news for us, we are quite appalled by the levels of irregularities in the Bangladesh Railway (BR) as revealed by an Anti-Corruption Commission probe. It is ironical that a public service as crucial as our railway which is always in high demand, does not generate as much revenue as it should. In fact, the government incurs huge losses because the BR is steeped in all kinds of corruption. And this has been going on for years, depleting railway funds and resources and rendering BR unprofitable and inefficient.  

The ACC has identified 10 sources of corruption in the sector. These include irregularities in purchase of wagons, coaches, locomotives, diesel electric multiple units, in construction of tracks, even in the relocation and upgrading of signal systems at different sections. Waterbodies and ponds of the railways have been leased out illegally while hundreds of acres of BR land have been grabbed because of a section of corrupt officials. There is massive corruption during auction of metre gauges and broad gauges. The report has found some railway officials and employees to be engaged in all kinds of irregularities which of course is no surprise to the suffering public.

It is no wonder then that our national railway is in such a sorry state—with dilapidated, dirty coaches, ill maintained tracks and signal systems, tickets finding their way in the hands of black-marketeers during peak times and festivals and perennial losses in this vital sector.

The BR is one of our most valuable resources and caters to millions of people. But it can be exponentially improved in terms of efficiency and modernisation just by eliminating the irregular practices that have become ingrained in this sector. The government will gain by accepting the recommendations of the ACC, one of which is to adopt digital management systems for various operations including recruitment and land management. By making BR a transparent, corruption-free entity, the government will get the revenue that is due to it and be able to provide an affordable, safe, efficient transport service to the people.