Indian Railways

Title: Indian Railways – The Weaving of a National Tapestry

Author: Bibek Debroy, Sanjay Chadha, Vidya Krishnamurthi

Publisher: Portfolio Penguin, 2017 (First)

ISBN: 9780143426752

Pages: 225

India’s railway network is fully owned by the government and is the largest visible embodiment of state power for all practical purposes. A major part of the railway infrastructure was made in British times with a commercial motive to speed up the flow of raw materials from India’s hinterland to the factories on the coast and in England and also to facilitate the trade in finished goods pouring out of England with the markets of India. This was the largest single injection of British capital into India’s economy. In 1947, 50000 miles of lines were laid, a million men were employed and the railway companies possessed an impressive array of 9000 locomotives, 225000 freight cars and 16000 passenger coaches. This anecdotal history of railways in India covers the early stages around 1830s when experimental lines were set up and right up to independence in 1947. This book is significant for the general reader as every Indian is said to have at least ‘one impossibly romantic railway memory’. The authors are leading bureaucrats in the national government. Bibek Debroy is a member of the Niti Aayog, Sanjay Chadha is a joint secretary in the ministry of commerce and Vidya Krishnamurthi is a researcher with Indicus Foundation, New Delhi who had previously worked for Niti Aayog. This book is also the tenth volume in the series of Indian Business being published under the stewardship of Gurcharan Das who has presented this book with a neat introduction.

In fact, Gurcharan Das’ introduction is the only saving grace of the book, since the main text is presented haphazardly and with a shocking disregard to structure. Das makes some original observations which is indeed simple but profound. He remarks that railways made sweeping changes in India. Our pre-modern world had been space-bound and time-free. The only difficulty faced by the villagers was how to travel long distances for a pilgrimage, without any thought to the time it might take. Railways changed all that and our modern world became space-free, but time-bound. Perhaps a reviewer in the future may laugh at this assumption of superior means of transport we treat to be the privileges of the era in which we live in! The fares were not cheap. A person could walk 600 miles and live at a lesser cost for a month, than the rates charged for third class, as remarked by a European who saw the fare structure firsthand. We might wonder at the elaborate and ornate buildings of some of the Victorian era stations we see around us as to its utility. The book provides the answer. The early lines were built following a ‘guarantee system’. The government guaranteed to the company a return of all the expenses added with a 5% profit margin. Such assurances were a recipe for extravagance. There was no incentive to economize on the expenditure and the companies spent money like water to build ostentatious buildings that later brought renown and heritage status. Troubled conditions during the 1857 war of independence forced the authorities to fortify major stations in the North.

The book presents some interesting anecdotes on the gradual development of amenities in trains. Lights, fans, bath rooms and sleeping berths were all later additions and amusing episodes are narrated as to the cause of its coming into being. However, this is the only thing that can be cited in favour of the book. Incongruously for a book of such scope, it abruptly stops at 1947. Probably the bureaucrats who are also the authors of the book wanted to avoid any remarks that might be construed as critical to government policy. But, if you look carefully, the description of events ends around 1910 itself, the later occurrences are just glanced over. The book includes long verbatim extracts and quotes from reports, newspaper articles and comments made in the nineteenth century. In one instance, such a quote runs for 12 consecutive pages! Out of the total 225 pages of the book, about half may be thought of as quotes! A table on the chronology of railways runs through 11 pages, which is hardly intelligible and perfectly useless. There are repetitions in many chapters which suggest the poor quality of coordination between the authors. Such lack of coordination and cooperation is a hallmark of the bureaucracy.

This book is the tenth volume in the series ‘Story of Indian Business’. This fact is not advertised anywhere on the cover, but discreetly mentioned in Gurcharan Das’ introduction. Anyway, this book is a complete disappointment that would damage the reputation and relevance of the whole series. It is also marked by lack of insight and observation on the part of the authors. All scholars remark that the railways had brought about a silent social revolution in India by the non-segregation among Indians. The Europeans made the two upper classes their privilege, true, but the Indian upper castes didn’t enjoy such a convenience however hard they pressed for it. The upper castes had to travel in third class mingled with untouchables and outcastes in the carriages. That railway could bring about such a transforming social change peacefully in a matter of decades is an outstanding achievement that must be applauded as vociferously as possible. But surprisingly, the authors keep mum on this issue. It may be that they don’t subscribe to the idea, but then they should have lambasted it with convincing logic and examples.

The reference materials used in the work are also not impeccable. Many of them are bodily taken from the famous website of IRFCA (Indian Railway Fan Club Association). The book does not provide an index. Some of the photographs provided are also not very appealing.

The book is not recommended.

Rating: 2 Star