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He’s a station master, a passenger, and the younger brother of Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda.
On Tuesday, when this correspondent met him at his home in Mulki, a small town about 30 km from Mangalore, DV Suresh was busy fielding telephonic queries from hacks and providing sound bytes to regional and national television channels.
Suresh says Gowda has done a stellar job with his Rail Budget, particularly in his plan to create a pipeline of job-ready people for recruitment in the Railways.
Suresh is currently the station master of Nandikur Railway Station, Udupi, on the Konkan Railway. Suresh began his career in 1985, joining the Hubli division of South Western Railway (SWR) as Assistant Station Master. In 1998, he was deputed to the Konkan Railway. After voluntarily retiring from SWR in 2008, he joined Konkan Railway as a Station Master.
Suresh believes the Railway Minister’s ideas, such as the establishment of an innovations incubation centre and Railway University, are “fantastic”.
‘Railwaymen know best’Nobody, he says, understands the Railways as well as its 1.3 million employees. They work for it day and night and know the advantages and disadvantages of the system and how to tackle problems. An innovations incubation centre will help bring their ideas to the fore, Suresh is convinced.
The Railway University will help create a pool of job-ready people for the Railways, he added.
Asked about the Opposition’s allegations that the Rail Budget’s thrust was on certain regions such as Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Karnataka, Suresh pointed out that the Minister has also given a push to development of the railway network in the North-Eastern States as well as Jammu and Kashmir. “I do not agree that there is favouritism towards Gujarat and Karnataka,” he said.
Fare hikeCommenting on the recent passenger fare hike, Suresh noted that there had been no hike in the last four years while the financial burden on the Railways was only rising. The Minister has made it clear that proceeds of the hike will be used to improve safety and passenger amenities, he added.
Asked to rate the Budget, Suresh played it safe: “If all the proposals mentioned today are implemented, then I will give nine out of 10.”
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