New system to boost efficient train operations, safer journey

20 June ; A state-of-art computerized system is being deployed by Railways across all crew booking lobbies of both drivers and guards for efficient train operations and safer journey.The crew management system (CMS) is proposed to be deployed in 300 crew lobbies aiming at bringing in higher efficiency of drivers and guards and better crew deployment."So far 288 lobbies having 88,000 crew members have been covered and we hope the entire project work would be completed shortly," a senior Railway Ministry official told a news agency. 

Crew lobby is where drivers are assigned their duties and a record is maintained detailing their rosters and hours of work put in. The official said the system will also enable regulation of the working hours of drivers and put an end to complaints of fatigue."Higher performance level would also raise efficiency of train operations and safety of passengers," the official said. 

The crew have been provided with biometric access that makes their authenticity devoid of any proxy reporting.In other words, none other than the assigned driver can take charge of the train, as happened a few months back when a superfast train between New Delhi and Kanpur was operated by unassigned staff, said another official.

Implementation of CMS was approved by the Railways in 2006. The task was entrusted to CRIS for developing and providing the system, which has borrowed the best of diverse system, though not of similar efficiency, prevailing in other zones.

It automates day-to-day business functions of the crew thereby providing information of their status throughout, rostering their duty allocations, providing information on availability of crew at their home station and assigning crew to trains, the official said. 

One of its hallmark lies in keeping track of the crew. It provides global tracking of all crew on the system in real time whether they are on train, resting at headquarters, on training or on leave, the official said.
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By :  News Team

Maoist violence part of "wider gameplan", says CPI(M)

20 June ;  Condemning the Maoist violence against the Left cadre, CPI(M) on Saturday said these attacks were part of a "wider gameplan by powerful vested interests" to destroy the party in its bastion of West Bengal."There is no doubt that this attack against the CPI(M) and its workers and sympathisers is part of the wider game gameplan by powerful vested interests to weaken and destroy the party in its main base of Bengal," the party Central Committee said in a statement in New Delhi. 

The party was of the view that these "fascistic type" of attacks on the CPI(M) were also an attack on the minimum norms of democracy and must be a matter of concern to all democratic minded citizens."In Lalgarh, the Maoist gang with direct and indirect backing of the Trinamool Congress has created a zone of terror against CPI(M) members and supporters."

"It is noted that the Maoist leaders in the area have openly spoken about their contacts and help to the Trinamool- led alliance in all the developments in Nandigram," the party alleged.

The Central Committee said it supports the efforts made by West Bengal government to use both political and administrative measures to free the area from Maoist gangs while taking all steps to reestablish links with the poor tribals living in the area. 

The CPI(M) claimed that since March this year, 53 party members or supporters were killed. In Lalgarh area in West Midnapore district, eight CPI(M) members and workers have been killed and their houses and offices burnt.

"In one instance in Lalgarh, the body of a comrade was kept in the open for three days and his family was not allowed to cremate it," the party claimed.The Central Committee also asked its units all over the country to launch a powerful campaign against the "politics of terror" unleashed by the Trinamool-led alliance as well as against the Maoist gangs.
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By :  News Team