The Reminiscences of Zafrulla Khan — Page 92
92 REMINISCENCES OF SIR MUHAMMAD ZAFRULLA KHAN assurances that they would be looked into, so that when I finished my reply to the debate the opposition joined in the cheers that followed. I may say that I infused a new spirit, or if I did not infuse a new spirit, at least I stimulated the kind of spirit that should have inspired the administration of the railways. We were able to carry out one or two significant innovations also. It was in my time that we inaugurated a service of air-conditioned coaches on some of the long distance trains. When I mentioned this in the Assembly there was great opposition from the Congress Party. "Pandering to the rich! Nobody will ride in these coaches. They will run empty," was the kind of thing shouted at me. It so happened that wherever they were progressively introduced every berth was booked weeks ahead; it became difficult to find accommodation in them. Some of the Congress Members of the Assembly were not above seeking the comfort and cleanliness which they provided. Perhaps one instance might be mentioned as illustrating the contrast between the official outlook and the non-official outlook on these matters. Questions were put in the Assembly that on a particular train in South India, towards the latter part of the night the toilet rooms in the third and intermediate class carriages were in an unspeakably filthy condition and that something must be done to improve conditions. The official report sent up to me was that they were always in a state of cleanliness and that there was nothing wrong. This was not a case of a difference of view, but of difference on a question of fact. So the next time I was on tour in South India, I had my saloon attached to this train during the latter part of the night, and I got out at every stop to go and look at some of these toilet rooms. I found that the truth, as often is the case in such cases, lay between the two statements, but that there was room for complaint. When I got back to headquarters, I enquired from the railway board what could be done about it. I was told the train was an express train and stopped only for a few minutes at each scheduled stop, and that the staff employed for this purpose could clean out only two or three of these toilet rooms. Nothing more could be done. I said thee was an obvious way of doing what was needed and the experts raised their eyebrows wondering how could I know an obvious way of doing the job that they did not know about.