The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 91
91 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN "Of course you realize that the railways are a common carrier, but they are not being administered like common carriers, not for the benefit and convenience of the freight or the passengers that they carry. " I could see from the faces of some of those who were present that they did not like the introduction; they did not know what was coming next. Then I told them half a dozen of my own experiences which highlighted the lack of courtesy, the lack of attention, the lack of sympathy, the lack of helpfulness, which an average passenger experienced on our railways, more particularly the third class passenger who was generally illiterate, could not read the notices on the notice boards and did not know from which platform the train would leave. The average railway employees, even the booking clerks used the occasion when such a passenger wanted to purchase a ticket or asked for information to show their authority rather than to help the poor man by telling him the exact fare that was payable or by giving directions where he should go for his train. Thereafter I began to find that on certain systems immediate attention was being paid to these things and an improvement began to be noticeable. Curiously enough, the Great Indian Peninsula Railway, which had a reputation for efficient running but also for an anti-Indian bias among its European officers was foremost in carrying out the suggestions that I had made. The Agent, Mr. Wilson, came down to see me and I found him an extremely sympathetic man. I began to see visible proof that every aspect of that to which I had drawn attention was being paid attention to, and there was a general air of improvement. I made the question hour in the Assembly a means for stimulating railway effort to conform to what was desirable. I never tried to ward off a question. My staff would look into every question. My staff would look into every question put and would put up a draft answer to it; if a defect or shortcoming was discovered which was often the case, we confessed it and said we would pay attention to it. Then came the railway budget the following February. In the general debate on the railway budget a good many of the complaints which had been voiced for so long were repeated. Some had already been remedied, at least partially, some were in the course of being remedied, some would be looked into and remedied. I gave firm