Nudged by its Financial Commissioner, the railways is gearing up to adopt a slew of austerity measures proposed by him, in the wake of erosion in its revenue due to the Covid-19 lockdown. The measures include- freeze on new posts, manpower rationalisation at the workshops, shifting outsourced work to CSR, moving ceremonial functions to digital platforms, and cutting down on use of stationary by 50 per cent.
The Financial Commissioner of the railways, on June 19, wrote to all the general managers of all the zones that traffic earnings of railways have reduced by 58 per cent.
“There is a need to explore new areas of expenditure control and enhancement of earnings,” the letter said.
It also advised the zones to reduce staff cost, rationalise staff and also by make them perform multiple tasks.
The financial commissioner also advised that all correspondence must be done through secure e-mails. It also instructed the zones to reduce the use of stationery articles, cartridges and other items by at least 50 per cent.
The letter also said that on-board housekeeping, linen management, station cleaning, elevator and escalator manning, station announcement should be reviewed and they should be done through corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds.
