Download - School of Management, KIIT University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

34 Parikalpana - KIIT Journal of Management Indian Railways’ Renewed Vision: Inclusive and integrative growth through commercial focus and social commitment Biswajit Das KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar, India biswajit@ksom.ac.in Nibedita Sahu Research Scholar, KIIT School of Management, Bhubaneswar, India 1281034@ksom.ac.in ABSTRACT Quoting from the “Vision 2020” report published by the Ministry of Railways in December, 2009, “In the coming decade, Indian Railways will continue to keep its service focus on the underprivileged and the poor, even as it expands its services for the more fortunate”, it is imperative to reflect on the fact that the Indian Railway’s implicit vision has gone through a metamorphosis of late which is to deepen and broaden the agenda of inclusive and integrative growth and increasingly become aware of their role as a catalyst of social and economic change. The phenomenal dependence of the travelling public in India on Indian Railway, which is at the threshold of a resurrection, is growing exponentially day by day. Today, it is the principal mode of transport which carries about 1.3 million tonnes of freight and 13 million passengers daily. It is the world’s largest single employer with about 16 lakh employees in its payroll. In its endeavour to become an excellent rail transport network of the world, the IR has helped launch itself towards a path of gigantic growth and development combined with holistic sustainability. Keywords: Indian Railway’s vision; Social responsibility; Subsidized fares; Profitability. Introduction: The Indian Railways, called as the “Life line to the Nation” (http:// indianrailways.gov.in) is 150 years old and is the biggest civilian employer in the world with over 17 lakh employees. It carries about 1.3 million tonnes of freight and 13 million passengers daily across the length and breadth of our country. Corporate Social Responsibility has always been an integral part of the Indian Railway’s functioning since ages. As per “Vision 2020” report published by the Ministry of Railways in December, 2009, “In the coming decade, Indian Railways
Indian Railway’s Renewed Vision: Inclusive and integrative growth through.... 35 will continue to keep its service focus on the underprivileged and the poor, even as it expands its services for the more fortunate. It will cater to the needs of the people across geographies and income strata as well as ethnic, religious and social diversities. It will better connect centres of commerce and industry, places of pilgrimage, historical sites, and tourist attractions, as also ports to hinterland. Railways also must reach the remote and underserved areas of the country to bring them into the national mainstream of development”. As outlined precisely in the VISION 2020 report, IR has four strategic national goals: • Inclusive development, both geographically and socially; • Strengthening national integration; • Large-scale generation of productive employment; and • Environmental sustainability. Though railways have been playing the role of an agent of cultural and socioeconomic catalyst since ages, of late it has realised its greater role of a conduit of inclusive and integrative growth. So this paper intends to evaluate the aspects of inclusive growth potential of IR under conducive environment which is socially and economically acceptable, with emphasis on the transport need of the poor not only by reduction of travel cost, but also through other holistic approaches. 1.1 Corporate Social Responsibility In the “Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines”, 2009 (Corporate Social Responsibility Voluntary Guidelines, 2009 Ministry of Corporate Affairs, India Corporate Week,Dec,14-21) http://www.mca.gov.in/ Ministry/latestnews/CSR_ Voluntary_Guidelines_24dec2009.pdf, it is emphatically conveyed to corporate India to voluntarily adopt CSR. The guideline is a forward-thinking, affirmative move by the government as is evident from its view that “CSR must not be seen as philanthropy and, in fact, needs to be merged with core business vision and goals.” So we can underscore the fact that Indian Railways have opened up in the right direction to achieve a holistic growth status in the near future. 1.2 CSR - A synonym to Sustainable growth Quoting our former President A P J Abdul Kalam at an CSR award function organised by industry body Assocham (Ref:-Corporate Social Responsibility should be sustainable: APJ Abdul Kalam, PTI Dec 20, 2012, 10.29PM, IST, http://www.assocham.org/) “CSR if it is implemented with sustainability as a focus, then it enhances business sustainability, provides new opportunities, develops customer loyalty and improves stakeholder relationship,”. He added “sustainability has assumed greater importance as it directs towards conservation of the environment and
Page 1 and 2: ISSN 0974-2808 Parikalpana KIIT Jou
Page 3 and 4: Parikalpana (KIIT Journal of Manage
Page 5: Editorial Questions on quality of M
Page 8 and 9: 2 Parikalpana - KIIT Journal of Man
Page 16 and 17: 10 Parikalpana - KIIT Journal of Ma
Page 90 and 91:
84 Parikalpana - KIIT Journal of Ma
Page 92 and 93:
Page 94 and 95:
Page 96 and 97:
Page 98 and 99:
Smith, E. E. (2001). Internet term
Page 101 and 102:
National Management Convention (NMC
show all

Download - School of Management, KIIT University

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?