It is only a shame for a government that is unable to run Railways, leave alone overseeing other affairs of the state in an efficient manner. The Railways had been in trouble ever since the government took over, but it is a height of apathy that the crisis has only worsened by the hour.Now the situation has reached such horrific proportions that the trains in various parts of the country have run out of fuel supply owing to shortage of funds.
As a result, thousands of passengers have been effected especially in Quetta where almost all the trains have come to a grinding halt. The main factor that is responsible for this sorry state of affairs is that of rampant corruption prevailing in the department coupled with the dreadful way Federal Minister for Railways Ghulam Ahmed Bilour has been performing his duties. In most cases, since the trains are overloaded with passengers, something that is enough to generate sufficient revenue, there is simply no excuse for shortage of funds for fuel supplies. Given the fact that only one day’s diesel has been left, the federal set-up needs to act quickly. It is also a reality that the federal dispensation led by Prime Minister Gilani is also to blame for whatever is happening to the department. Despite the bailout package announced by the government a short while ago, the money has yet to be released, which has only aggravated the problem. Already a number of passenger trains on busy routes have been cancelled merely because of shortage of funds. According to Mr Bilour himself, out of 500 locomotives, only 227 are in shape to operate. Official negligence has among others, made the condition favourable for corruption that starts right from the ticket counter to the bureaucrats at the top – Nation
