I.T. is Useful in Serving Rail Users Effectively and Efficiently: Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

A seminar on the theme “Role of IT in Rail Services – Present and Future” was inaugurated by the Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury here today. The seminar which was organized by the Centre for Transportation Research and Management (C-TRAM), an autonomous body of the Ministry of Railways, brought together the eminent professionals from Information Technology (IT) sector, industries and rail users and corporate managers to deliberate on the current status of IT and its future prospects for Indian Railways to expand and improve its quality of service. The objective of this seminar was to generate ideas through interaction between the key players and the Indian Railways about new areas where IT can be put to use. Present on occasion were Shri Arunendra Kumar, Chairman, Railway Board, Shri. D. P. Pande, Member Traffic, Shri Kul Bhushan, Member Electrical, Shri Alok Johri, Member Mechanical of Railway Board, Mrs. Suhash Kumar, Advisor (Freight Marketing) and MD, CRIS and Sh. R. C. Dubey, Executive Director, C-TRAM. Noted IT expert, Sh. Kiran Karnik delivered the key note address at the seminar.

Speaking on the occasion Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said that “this seminar is deliberating on a very timely, topical and important subject of “Information Technology” which has become indispensable part of our day to day life. The system is now moving from paper to paper-less delivery of services, he added”.

The Minister said that “Indian Railways have had a healthy tradition of utilizing Information Technology in their day to day operations in the last 40 years. Referring to the wide scale railway operations, the Minister pointed out that Railways is presently carrying over a billion tonnes of freight and over 8 billions of passengers annually. The Minister emphasized that this corresponds to around 27 lakh trucks a day and 22 million passengers a day. He said that IT is helpful in serving rail users of this scale effectively and efficiently. IT enabled passenger and freight information services have made it possible for the rail user to access the services increasingly from his desk top or lap top or even his mobile phone. Internally also, Railways have utilized computerization extensively to provide quick and efficient processing of data. Almost all departments use computerized applications in their day to day work, to collect information from the lowest levels of the organization and disseminate it to the managerial levels for quick and effective decision making”.

The Minister Sh. Chowdhury said that “India has been recognized as a major source of young IT professionals as most new IT initiatives in the developed world like USA are handled by Indian professionals. The Minister talked of inclusive growth of the country and called upon to strengthen IT literacy in the country taking marginalized sections on board on this journey. Shri Chowdhury said that there is long way for Indian Railways to go in utilizing the real potential of IT for use of railways’ Commercial Operation and Asset Management Functions”.

Mr Chowdhury hoped that the seminar would deliberate on all aspects of IT and will throw some useful suggestions that railways need to implement for the next generation.