Karmayogi: A Biography of E. Sreedharan

by M.S. Ashokan

An important event from the second phase was the accident in Zamrudpur that forced Sreedharan to resign. The accident occurred at the construction site on a Sunday morning on 12 July 2009, and put DMRC, which until then had an almost clear accident record for eleven years, under tremendous strain because of the scale of the tragedy and suggestions of negligence on its part. Close to a hundred workers had lost their lives at various sites during the first and second phases of the project. None of their deaths was a consequence of any major accident. What could be termed as a major accident had happened in Laxmi Nagar in 2008, when two lives were lost. However, the tragedy at Zamrudpur was too grave to not require explanation. The gigantic launchers shook the whole region as they fell flat on the site underneath, snuffing out seven lives instantly. The national media relayed the tragic news across the nation. DMRC swung into action immediately and addressed the press at length to provide any details called for to allay people’s fears about the project. DMRC was of the view that the media acted responsibly, reporting objectively and without bias on the tragedy. The same day, Sreedharan, at a press meet called at the DMRC office, announced his resignation from the post of managing director in front of a huge contingent of the press representing almost all the media houses in Delhi. He revealed that his letter of resignation had already been sent to the Delhi chief minister. He...

The people could see that while the other metro lines performed admirably, the PPP experiment for the metro, which had fuelled high hopes, had fallen apart spectacularly, appearing to justify Sreedharan’s concerns about it.

Sreedharan had always been quite candid about his views on the viability of private participation in public transportation projects like the metro. As the patriarch of metro projects in the country, Sreedharan’s unyielding stand had often led to controversy and heated debate. He stood by his position that the government should underwrite projects that required thousands of crores of rupees in investment. In the short term, he said, these projects, typically, would not be able to make any profits. To incentivize private investors, governments would be forced to give away huge discounts. Investors usually expect access to and ownership of key public real estate, as well as tax reductions in lieu of immediate returns on investments. This would be detrimental in the long term, as the government’s revenue sources would be depleted in the bargain. Metros are expected to operate in the public space and had to be within reach of the common man in terms of affordability. Profit-based companies would not be able to operate in this sector without jacking up commuter tariffs.

At the time of Sreedharan’s retirement, the Delhi Metro was transporting 22 lakh passengers every day. In other words, the metro had replaced at least one lakh vehicles on the road, saving the burning of approximately one lakh tonnes of fuel every year (as of 2011). In addition to saving precious petrodollars, the metro had curbed the increase in air pollution, in which matter Delhi was at a dangerous precipice. Studies revealed that the arrival of the metro had in fact cut air pollution by 27 lakh tonnes per year, and the road accident rate by at least 500 city residents a year. Every time a commuter opted for the metro, he or she would be saving twenty-eight minutes of the day from a single ride. Return journeys would save the traveller at least fifty-six minutes. If we were to convert the net profit yielded by the time saved into labour-hours, 20 lakh hours would be the savings—in other words, surplus human labour of 2.5 lakh hours every day. Delhi could make use of the surplus time available to its people to build a brighter future for itself.

The metro’s role in transforming the culture of the city commute in Delhi has been phenomenal. The media took note of and highlighted the civil behaviour of metro employees or passengers, which was in stark contrast to that in most other public spaces in the cities of the region, where road rage and criminal assaults on fellow citizens were very common. The regular spectacle of filth and squalor around the major railway stations in Delhi could not be found anywhere on the metro. It would be interesting to note that the railways and metro lines lay just a ten-minute distance apart. Both are used by the inhabitants of the same city. The usual abomination of spit-stained walls at the stations of the Indian Railways or the piles of trash on their platforms were not sights to be associated with the metro. It is a great example of a confident, self-respecting and high-class service inspiring a culture of civility in its patrons.

The Delhi Metro’s financials have been sound from the outset. It very quickly became one of the only five profitable metros of the roughly 200 metros operating around the world. By the time he stepped down, Sreedharan had made sure the metro was able to break eve...

Sreedharan was effusive in his praise for DMRC. At a ceremony where he was awarded by the All India Management Association for excellence in management, he said, ‘DMRC is a government enterprise. It adheres to all norms and procedures laid down by the government. So it’s like any other government organization. It comes under the supervision of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the Vigilance Commission, the Parliamentary committee and the legislative committee. That DMRC achieved success despite restrictions had dumbfounded many. We’d completed the first phase earlier by two years. The second phase was done with six months to spare. How we were able to accomplish those within the constraints of time and budget ought to be the subject of academic studies. IIM Ahmedabad had joined Oxford University to do a study on DMRC. Managements from other organizations were always welcome to analyse and glean the secrets of DMRC’s merits and achievements. IIM Ahmedabad did find a few things—the first of them had been the organizational value and work culture in which we’d given special emphasis on timekeeping.

Essentially, DMRC’s responsibilities were running the trains on time and providing a convenient ambience to the riders. If the workers and employees of such an organization could not keep their time individually, collectively we believed the trains we operated would reflect the attitude.

The world standard for tardiness being 3 minutes, DMRC considered 60 seconds was reason enough to record the train’s arrival as late. Another value it cherished was integrity. As far as DMRC was concerned, being honest was not enough, the lofty ideals and transparency must shine through one’s daily routines. A short glance at the overall work undertaken by DMRC would reveal that it had made transactions ranging in crores of rupees. Just the third phase pulled in Rs 42,000 crore. Not even a single allegation of corruption or a shred of suspicion had been alleged against DMRC. Almost all individuals and organizations associated with the Commonwealth Games had faced allegatio...

DMRC was an organization built over a period of fourteen years. It had accomplished much by seeing through every task it embarked on, by not ceding an inch to negative criticism and by not allowing itself to be swayed by the praise it received along the way.

The organization possessed the highest level of professionalism and discipline, envied by even the top private corporations in the country. No other organization in the public sector could claim a comparable professional history. The inner core of the organization and its work culture would stand the test of time. None of its qualities was a result of enforcement. Instead, the employees themselves warmed up to the direction Sreedharan had chosen for the entity.

Sreedharan had professed deep faith in the durability of the values he had introduced. As for the world’s concern about the continuation of DMRC’s legacy, Sreedharan pointed out in an interview that the core values envisioned by Jamsetji Tata, when he laid the foundation for the huge enterprise o...

His only wish was to end the journey with his head held high.

To be honest, has one not seen top bureaucrats in industries of strategic importance to the country, such as electronics and communications, petroleum, etc., showing no qualms in becoming even shareholders of private corporations in the same industries? It was only natural for a private company to cash in on the profile of a man who boasts an astounding professional track record and has displayed the highest integrity and moral strength in his private and public life, to help boost their own image in the market.

Talking about Kerala’s long-standing gripe about being routinely overlooked in the yearly Railway Budgets, Sreedharan has a different perspective. He maintains that the people in responsible positions in Kerala never really ask for what they want. The state does not need new railway zones or workshops. The state’s administration has not been able to display clarity in its demands. For that reason, the real needs of the state never get addressed. What the state needs are more tracks and trains. Electrification of the lines, doubling of the tracks and modernization of signal systems are the primary needs of the thickly populated state. More trains should run within the state and outside, connecting to the major cities in other states. The workshops in Kerala have not been utilized optimally yet. Just see what a lot of open space in places like Shoranur remain unused, said Sreedharan, concluding that there are no projects to make use of the resources that are readily available.

‘To live, we only need what we have. We have more than enough. I did not even take the salary from DMRC for the last four years I’ve been there. It was rerouted to the trust for humanitarian projects in memory of my mother. The pension from the railways has been more than enough.’ He finished his sentence and looked at Radha, as though to make sure she would agree. ‘Indeed. He does think that we need only so much,’ she said quietly, to which Sreedharan responded with a warm grin that filled his eyes and wrinkled the contours of his mouth.