The Bibek Debroy Committee is a high level committee for “Mobilization of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry and railway board. It gave various suggestions to address the concerns. Some of them are as follows:
- Transition to commercial accounting as it is next to impossible to find out the profit with the current accounting method.
- Streamlining of recruitment and HR Process : Currently to look after the railways, recruitment is done via different channels. Committee suggested to have one service i.e Indian railway management service to have better accountability and smooth functioning.
- Railways should focus on core areas and non core areas shall be handed over to other entity like schools, health, running a police force school etc.
- Decentralisation should happen at the bottom level duties. There is a need to delegate enhance powers at zonal level.
- Indian Railway Manufacturing Company: According Debroy, wagons are already produced by the private sector. Coaches and locomotives could follow. Unless they are freed from 59 their constraints, the existing production units will be unable to face this competition, he says.
- Encouraging private entry: Private entry into running both freight and passenger trains in competition with Indian railways should be allowed and private participation in various Railway infrastructure services and non-core activities like production and construction, should be encouraged by the Ministry of Railways.
- Merger of railway budget with state budget.
- To raise resources investment advisory committee be set up from the investment bankers and representative of SEBI, RBI, IDFC and other institutions.
- Shift regulatory responsibility from the government to an independent regulator as the private sector will only come in if there is fair and open access to infrastructure
Most of the recommendations have been realised recent being the merger of 8 service as per the decision taken by the cabinet. Now the current govt. has to work on mobilisation of resources, infrastructure development and service delivery.