Any talk about shifting HQ from one state to other shall open Pandora's box. Even the states having 2 or more zonal HQs are not willing to part with one HQ. WB having ER, SER & Kolkata Metro does not agree to shift HQ to Jharkhand (Ranchi) where from maximum profit/ revenue of SER comes. Maharashtra having CR & WR HQs not willing to shift WR HQ to Gujrat (Ahmedabad) inspite of the fact that about 500 Rkms of WR falls in Maharashtra and most of network falls in Gujrat. How can we expect Orissa CM to readily part with the only HQ they have? He cannot agree even if he wish to, else the opposition parties in Orissa will get a big issue against him to raise before public. Indian public can very easily be raised emotionally by our seasoned politicians.
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of Central Govt. enterprises are cash cows, which no State Govt wants to part with. I remember that several years back, Steel Industry was going through very bad phase due to global recession. In order to cut administrative costs, Ministry of Steel planned to bring all its companies/ventures including Steel Authority of India Ltd, Vizag Steel Plant and many others under a common umbrella company to cut costs but could not do so as Andhra CM did not want to part with the office of chairman Vizag steel plant which reported to Ministry of Steel which would have merged/shifted to New Delhi.
One profitable solution for IR could be to do away with the Zones and let the divisions report to RB New Delhi. With huge technological developments in communication, IT, Computers it is very much feasible. Reduction in one tier in IR hierarchy shall result in fast decision making and add to efficiency of IR operations. Cost of maintaining huge establishments/ offices/ residential colonies shall be saved. In fact these offices and residencial colonies, mostly located in metro cities could be commercially utilized to generate huge revenue for IR. The cost centre shall turn into profit centers. Several thousands of employees released from these zonal offices can be much more productively utilized in other IR establishments. This will also help bringing down the staff cost for IR which is currently at untenable and all time high level, i.e. 68% of total IR revenues.
GMs shall then be posted in the most important/ crucial divisions and I/m sure Waltair (Vizag) with huge revenue and loading will definitely get one. DRMs shall continue to head the relatively lesser important divisions.
Creating of a Zonal HQ including offices, residential colony and other facilities shall cost anywhere around Rs. 500-1000 crore. And annual recurring costs for its maintenance and salaries of several hundreds of employees too may be around 100 cr Rs per annum.
In the national interest HQs for Central Govt. Enterprises shall be opened only if required and must be located on merit and not on any personal/ political choices. But in India this seldom happens. With the advent of coalition Governments, Sate Politics is gradually gaining more and more importance in the national arena since last 2 decades, the ministers at centre act more and more like minister representing their state rather than acting as minister of the nation. For regional parties, interests of its home state often assume much more importance than it should be, as compared to national interest. This is the root cause of many problems faced by Central Govt & its enterprises.