Moving Beyond Vande Bharat: Performance of Indian Railways

With the introduction of Vande Bharat trains and their subsequent launch in various regions of the nation, Indian Railways has recently made headlines. However, the bigger picture and important issues the Indian Railways are facing are being disregarded amid the publicity surrounding these new trains. In order to assess Indian Railways’ performance, particularly in the freight and passenger sectors, this article emphasises the need for more useful indicators.

Performance and prospect of the Indian Railways, especially in the freight and passenger sectors

Investment in Indian Railways: Since the merger of the Railway Budget with the General Budget in 2017, there has been a shift towards ramping up investments in the Indian Railways. The Annual Plan outlay for the Railways has increased from ₹1,09,935 crore in 2016-17 to ₹2,60,200 crore in the Budget for 2023-24, an increase of 137%. While this unprecedented level of investment is welcome, it must translate into concrete progress towards capacity building, and not just be limited to inputs.

Freight Sector:

Rail share of freight traffic: The National Rail Plan 2030 (NRP) aims to raise the rail share in freight traffic vis-à-vis roadways from 27% to 45% by 2050. However, the rail share of freight carried reduced from 51.5% in 2008-09 to 32.4% in 2018-19 for leads over 300 km.

Commodity diversification: Almost the entire increase in volume of traffic carried by rail over the decade 2008-09 to 2018-19 has been in short lead traffic (leads up to 300 km) and 55% of the increase was through the transport of just one commodity, viz. coal. As yet, there is no evidence of higher levels of traffic being achieved concurrently with diversification of commodities carried or an increase in rail share vis-à-vis road transport.

Average speed of goods trains: The NRP aims to raise the average speed of goods trains to 50 kilometres per hour from the present 25 kmph, which is expected to increase efficiency and reduce transportation costs.

Tariff rates for freight: The NRP also calls for a concurrent reduction in tariff rates for freight by up to 30%.

Passenger Sector: Punctuality is a crucial operational index for passenger trains. While published statistics of punctuality usually are above 90%, these figures are arrived at with a dose of adjustment and only the destination arrival time is considered irrespective of the fact that a train might have been off schedule en route at all the important intermediate stations. The Indian Railways should aim to be at least within five minutes (without any adjustment) of the scheduled time.

Need for an annual report

Report on the lines of the annual Economic Survey: Government should consider tabling an annual report on the performance of the Railways in Parliament on the lines of the annual Economic Survey prepared by the Finance Ministry ahead of the General Budget.

Not just for publicity pamphlet but a resource for policymakers: This report, unlike a publicity pamphlet like the Indian Railways Year Book, should be an internal performance audit that should serve as a valuable resource for policymakers, serious students and also researchers in the field of rail transport.

SC modifies judgement on Eco-Sensitive Zones

The ruling on required eco-sensitive zones (ESZs) encircling national parks, protected forests, and wildlife refuges across the nation was changed by the Supreme Court.

The court has now made it quite obvious that ESZs cannot be applied uniformly across the nation but rather must be “protected area-specific.”

What are ESZs, or eco-sensitive zones?

The MoEFCC has designated certain regions as Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile regions (EFAs) that are located surrounding Protected Areas, National Parks, and Wildlife Sanctuaries.

Declaring ESZs has the goal of controlling and regulating activity surrounding protected areas in order to act as “shock absorbers” for those places.

They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.

How are they demarcated?

The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does NOT mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.

However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.

Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.

The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).

Defining its boundaries

An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.

Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.

Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.

Activities Permitted and Prohibited

Permitted: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.

Prohibited: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.

Under regulation: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.

What was the recent SC judgment?

On June 3, 2022, the apex court had ordered a 1-km buffer zone for protected areas to act as a “shock absorber.”

However, the Centre and several states, including Kerala, had returned to the apex court seeking modification of the judgment, saying the direction affected hundreds of villages in the peripheries of forests.

Impact of the Judgment

Earlier judgement would have certainly hampered the day-to-day activities of the citizens residing in ESZs.

It would also prevent villagers from reconstructing their houses, the government from constructing schools, dispensaries, anganwadis, and other basic structures for the improvement of the life of the villagers.

The court also noted that it would be impossible for forest departments to conduct eco-development activities around national parks and sanctuaries.

Cabinet approves the Policy for the Medical Devices Sector

The National Medical Devices Policy, 2023 was authorised by the Union Cabinet, which was presided over by the Hon. Prime Minister.

National Medical Devices Policy, 2023

The Policy, 2023 intends to support the medical device industry’s orderly expansion in order to satisfy the public health goals of access, affordability, quality, and innovation.

The policy puts out a plan for the industry’s quick development in order to fulfil a number of objectives.

Objectives

The objective of the policy is to increase industry competitiveness, independence, adaptability, and innovation.

It focuses on addressing the healthcare needs of the entire world, not just those in India.

• It focuses on meeting the healthcare needs of not only India but also the world.
• It aims to accelerate the growth of the medical devices sector.
• It takes a patient-centric approach to meet the evolving healthcare needs of patients.
• It provides support and directions to the medical devices industry to achieve these goals.

Strategies to Promote Medical Device Sector

The medical devices sector will be facilitated and guided through a set of strategies that cover six broad areas of policy interventions:

Medical devices sector in India: A quick recap

• The medical devices sector in India is an essential and integral part of the Indian healthcare sector.
• The sector has contributed significantly to the domestic and global battle against the COVID-19 pandemic through the large-scale production of medical devices & diagnostic kits.

Growth potential in India

• The market size of the medical devices sector in India is estimated to be $11 billion (approximately, ₹ 90,000 Cr) in 2020, and its share in the global medical device market is estimated to be 1.5%.
• The Indian medical devices sector has enormous potential to become self-reliant and contribute towards the goal of universal health care.

Current initiatives in this sector

• The Government of India has initiated the implementation of the PLI Scheme for medical devices.
• It supports for setting up of four Medical devices Parks in the States of Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.

Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) Initiative

The PRET effort was started by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to better prepare for future pandemics with the same scope and devastation as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The PRET Initiative is what?

The WHO has launched the Preparedness and Resilience for Emerging Threats (PRET) initiative to get ready for pandemics with the same scope and devastation as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its goal is to offer recommendations for coordinated response planning to any respiratory infection, including coronaviruses and influenza.

Although PRET’s current focus is on respiratory viruses, work is already in progress to determine which pathogens should be the next group to be reduced under this initiative.

It can serve to operationalize the objectives and provisions of the Pandemic Accord, which is currently being negotiated by WHO Member States.

Three-pronged approach of PRET

The three-pronged approach includes-

Updating preparedness plans

Increasing connectivity among stakeholders in pandemic preparedness planning, and

Dedicating sustained investments, financing, and monitoring of pandemic preparedness.

The approach has a special focus on bridging the gaps highlighted during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring community engagement and equity are at the centre of preparedness and response efforts.