I graduated in Mechanical Engineering as a Special Class Railway Apprentice (SCRA) at the Indian Railway Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering (IRIMEE), Jamalpur in 1995. The SCRA scheme was started in 1927 by the British. Today this exam is conducted by the UPSC and close to a lakh students vie for about 10 seats in this prestigious programme. After graduation, the candidates join the elite Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), occupying the highest positions in the Railways and other vital infrastructure sectors. Many eminent persons like Dr. R. K. Pachauri, Nobel Laureate and Chairman IPCC, Shri M. M. Suri, Padma Shri and founder of SAN Ltd. (Suri & Nair Locomotives Ltd), Shri J. P. Gupta, Chairman, UPSC, Shri P. C. Luther, Padma Shri and ex-Chairman, Damodar Valley Corporation and Shri P. C. Sen, ex- CMD of the Peerless Group are also alumni of this prestigious institution.
I joined the Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME) in 1995. In the thirteen years of my working for the Railways, I have been posted in Divisions, Diesel Locomotive Sheds, Workshops and Headquarters of Eastern Railway in various middle and senior level executive positions. My assignments have covered a wide range of functions like Strategy, Planning and Policy formulation, Operations, Maintenance technology, Project formulation, evaluation and execution, Finance and budgeting, Material management, Human Resource management and Environmental management. I have always been given extremely challenging postings in the toughest and remotest locations and have enjoyed the privilege of working as independent in-charge in most of my assignments.
My first posting was at Andal, the largest Railway Yard in India, followed by Barkakana in the extremely tough coal and ore-loading regions of Eastern India. I was then made the youngest ever Functional Head of Operations in the second largest loading Division of Indian Railways- Dhanbad. Spread over an area cutting across five states, Dhanbad is unique in terms of its intensive loading operations, remote and far-flung locations, law and order problems and frequent Maoist attacks on Railway installations. Despite these constraints, we managed to win the “Operations Shield” for best performance by a Division two years in succession.
In June 2001, I took over as Functional Head of Operations as well as Maintenance at Malda, the dual charge being an additional challenge on this recently created, under-performing Division of Eastern Railway. By initiating a method of close interaction with my 1800 strong workforce and introducing several infrastructural and technological improvements, I was able to significantly improve the delivery of passenger and freight services. The key indices of asset utilization and reliability increased to their best ever levels. In recognition of my efforts at Malda, I was given the General Manager’s Award for Professional Excellence in April, 2002.
My next assignment was as in-charge of the Eastern Railway Diesel Locomotive Shed at Jamalpur, controlling assets worth Rs. 170 crores, an annual budget of Rs. 30 crores and a staff strength of 800. The most recently set up shed of Eastern Railway, Jamalpur suffered from wide spread demoralization, lack of discipline and break-down of systems. Having recently returned to the Railways after completing my MBA from MDI, Gurgaon, I tried to apply all the relevant strategies of employee motivation, setting up of control and feedback systems, training of staff and technological up-gradation. Within a year we managed a significant turnaround in all major performance parameters and, quite dramatically, won the “Best Diesel Shed Shield” for the first time in the 14-year history of Jamalpur shed. For my efforts in effecting the turnaround of Jamalpur Shed, I was nominated for the Minister of Railways’ Award and was given my second General Manager’s Award for Professional Excellence in 2005.
I am currently working as Deputy Chief Mechanical Engineer at Eastern Railway Headquarters, Kolkata. Primarily a planning, policy-formulation and co-ordination assignment, my objectives have been to optimise the utilization of locomotives, crew and fuel which together constitute about 25% of the working expenditure of a Railway. I plan, organize and control the fleet operations of up to 350 locomotives and associated operational and maintenance staff. I handle and negotiate national and international level material contracts – over a hundred cases a year, each worth up to Rs. 2 crores. I have been made in-charge for handling Mechanical Engineering PPP Projects. I am also the nodal officer for Disaster Management for Eastern Railway and oversee the performance and maintenance of Accident Relief Trains and Breakdown Cranes.
Coming from a family of scientists, civil servants and doctors, I have always valued the ethics and principles of working for a higher cause. The learnings and working styles that I have picked up early in these high-pressure, high-responsibility assignments have stood me in good stead even in later years. I see myself as primarily a strategist and planner and I work best when given freedom in independent assignments. I firmly believe in the dictum that details are the key and that sincerity, dedication and hard work are the tools for success. I see myself as a people’s person and having to work with more than a thousand staff and supervisors in most of my assignments has taught me the value of team work, motivation and staff development.
I have also tried to develop a strong academic platform to complement and supplement the professional and managerial skills acquired in my work life. Having won the NTSE scholarship and the AICBSE Merit Scholarship for securing All India First Position in Mathematics in my Secondary School Examination, I have always valued academic achievement.
In 2002, I was selected for a Government of India Scholarship programme to pursue my MBA at Management Development Institute, Gurgaon. I topped the course and was awarded the Prime Minister’s Gold Medal for securing the highest ever CGPA (9.22 out of 10). I specialized in Marketing management and my dissertation thesis on “Marketing Strategies for Multimodal Transportation by Indian Railways” was taken up for further study and implementation by the Container Corporation of India in its North-East traffic corridor.
In 2005, I was selected for a British Government Scholarship at London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE), London, UK. The “Chevening Gurukul Scholarship in Leadership & Globalization” is the British Government’s flagship programme and aims at selecting twelve “Young Leaders” from various sectors of Indian national life for an intensive, specially designed, academic course-based study at LSE. Apart from classroom lectures, it includes debates with eminent personalities, focused study visits to various countries in Western Europe and project dissertations. This unique and highly prestigious course helped me to explore ideas and practices of globalization, their impact, the responses they have stimulated and the implications for leadership in India. The opportunity to test my own hypotheses not only with leading academics and thinkers, but also with policy makers and practitioners has enabled me to develop some of the skills required to operate effectively in a globally competitive environment.
I am an avid follower of economic and political debates at the national and international level and have a keen interest in world affairs. Books are a passion and I think Neruda is God. I have always been an ardent fan of world cinema and am a recent novitiate in the world of theatre. I play a hard game of squash and badminton and am currently recovering from an ankle injury picked up in a hotly contested football match. I love Van Gogh, Wodehouse, Coppola, Joseph Heller, The Matrix Trilogy, Pink Floyd, Black and white cinema, Arundhati Roy and the Beatles.
I see myself as a student and a traveler, with the zeal to work for causes greater than individual preoccupations. I am impatient with sloth and mediocrity and believe in striving for perfection – whether of the self or of the community. I have tried to acquire the knowledge and skills that will help me grow and am ready to face new challenges and explore new frontiers.
Finally, I conclude with what the great Greek poet Cavafy had to say to Odysseus as he struggled onward on his epic journey to the land of Ithaca – the lines that, to me, embody the whole sum of human experience:
“Arrive not expecting more wealth, than the riches you have gained on the way.”
