THE quest for excellence

THE

quest for excellence comes naturally to Elattuvalapil Sreedharan. In school, he would

vie with T.N. Seshan to come first in class. Today, the 73-year-old managing director of
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has set a scorching pace for his co-workers to follow. That
competitive streak in him has motivated the 1,650-strong workforce to avoid delay or costoverrun and to transform the Delhi Metro into a technological marvel.
Sample this. The Metro conducts over 250 to-and-fro trips per day along the four-km
underground stretch between the Delhi University and Kashmere Gate stations. There is a
train every six minutes during peak hours from eight in the morning to eight at night and a
train every 10 minutes in lean hours 6 to 8 am and 8 to 10 pm. The DMRC hopes to
increase the frequency of trains gradually.
The Kashmere Gate Delhi University section, slated for completion in June this year, was
completed seven months ahead of schedule and is expected to attract 20,000 commuters
per day. The Metro is also operating trains between Shahdara in East Delhi and Rithala in
the West on an elevated track. There are 18 stations on the 22.8-km stretch between
Shahdara and Rithala.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh inaugurated the underground section on December 19.
Appreciating the efforts of the DMRC, he observed, "The time has come for all of us to think
big and think into the future. The 21st century will be the Century of Asia and without doubt
the Century of India but to hasten this journey, we have to create the required social and
economic infrastructure."
And think big, Sreedharan certainly did. The phase I is expected to generate substantial
benefits. Not only would it bring down the number of buses on the roads by 2,600, it would
increase the average speed of buses from 0.5 km per hour to 14 km per hour. Two million
man-hours per day would be saved due to reduction in journey time. Fuel cost worth Rs 5
billion per year would also be saved.
"Over the next two years," Sreedharan has said, "the other sections of Phase I would be
thrown open for commuters. The Kashmere Gate Central Secretariat corridor would
become operational by June and the Barakhamba-Dwarka corridor in December. The
Barakhamba-Indraprastha corridor is scheduled for completion in March 2006 by when 15
lakh passengers would commute daily."
Executing a project of such a mammoth proportion did not come without its share of
challenges. A team had to be chosen, contracts had to be signed and tenders placed,
deadlines had to be set and met, traffic needed to be regulated and finances managed `85
and all this without causing an iota of inconvenience to the forever-cribbing Delhiite behind
the wheels, who is perpetually in a hurry and can do without road rage.
"We had an able and experienced team leader in Sreedharan. He spelt out the mission
statement and the corporate culture clearly to one and all. The idea was to make Delhi
Metro a world class Metro, a vehicle to promote dignity and discipline in the city," recalled
the chief public relations officer of the DMRC, Anuj Dayal. "Sreedharans personality also
was a crucial factor. He led by example."

The "corporate culture" accordingly lays out that integrity of executives and staff should be
beyond doubt; punctuality is the key word; targets are most sacrosanct; organisation must
be lean but effective; corporation must project an image of efficiency, transparency,
courtesy and "we-mean-business" attitude; and construction should not lead to ecological or
environmental degradation.
What contributed in no small measure to DMRCs success was the autonomy given to the
managing director. "Sreedharan took up this task on the condition that he should be allowed
to choose his own team. Furthermore, he came to enjoy a fair degree of autonomy.
Financial powers were vested in the managing director. Also, the managing director was the
last authority on tenders," explained Dayal.
Another precondition was the minimum interference of the government. The work culture
was so designed as to reduce dependence on subsidies. Soon the message went down the
line that there is nothing called a free lunch or freebies. The organisation therefore was able
to resist pressures from many quarters. Even the Prime Minister bought a ticket for enjoying
a ride on the Metro.
What makes the DMRC a case study for students of management is the insertion of a clause
into the contract with companies that they must have an Indian partner. Consequently, the
DMRC is procuring the trains from Bharat Earth Movers Limited, Bangalore, and elevators
are also being produced indigenously. Another feature is the punctuality with which the
DMRC pays its contractors ("We call them associates," says Dayal.)
The success of this venture would not have been possible without divine intervention. Any
other project of this magnitude might have got bogged down in litigations, but not so with
the DMRC. Although there are about 400 cases pending in various courts, no stay order has
been given till date. That meant the DMRC could go about executing its works without
worrying too much about cost escalation or project delay.
In the past six years, the DMRC has also redefined public relations to a certain extent. It did
not employ conventional methods, though. Instead, it chose alternate ways to generate
goodwill for the organisation. Fortunately, it did not need to look far. In ensuring minimum
inconvenience to motorists and pedestrians alike, the DMRC successfully converted a
challenge into an opportunity. That paid dividends too. All utilities were diverted in advance
to ensure that there was no disruption of water, electricity, sewerage and telephone
connections during the construction of the area. Barricades were put up. An alternate traffic
plan was drawn up with the help of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and in
collaboration with Delhi Police. Also, new roads were built or the existing roads widened to
accommodate traffic.
The DMRC organised community interaction programmes for redressing problems that arose
among the local people. Every Monday, heads of department would meet and set new or
review targets. "We have also devised a reverse clock," says Dayal. When The Tribune
caught up with him, the clock showed 128 days to go for completion of the underground
stretch of corridor between Kashmere Gate and Central Secretariat.
For an organisation that has earned the distinction of being efficient and has a Managing
Director in Sreedharan, who is the proud recipient of Padma Shri and was chosen the Asia
Man of the Year by Time magazine, the bottomline remains as significant as ever. Although
a little more than a year into operation, the DMRC is recovering the operational cost and
ploughing back the surplus into repaying the loans. Not only does Delhi Metro offer a more

comfortable and safe travel for the commuters, it would help reduce atmospheric pollution
levels by 50 per cent. Commending the DMRC for paying due attention to environmental
concerns, the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi, B.L. Joshi, recently said, "The construction had
been undertaken in an eco-friendly manner and 10 trees had been planted for each one
felled."
The DMRC has also secured ISO 14001 certification for adhering to environment protection norms and
the OSHSAS 18001 certification for meeting world standards in protecting the health of workers and
passengers alike. Another hallmark of its operations has been labour standards. It employs 45 persons
per kilometre of work. This ratio is one-third of that of the organisations elsewhere in the country.

The Delhi Metro comes equipped with several unique features. The ticketing system is fully
automatic. Passengers have the option of using contact-less smart cards and contact-less
tokens. Unlike the tokens, smart cards can be used for multiple journeys. Parking facilities
are available at Metro stations for private vehicle owners who can park and ride on the
Metro. Special feeder buses are also provided. The worlds most sophisticated and advanced
safety measures have been implemented in all Metro stations and trains. In the unlikely
event of an emergency, the system is geared to evacuate all passengers within 5.5 minutes
from elevated stations and four minutes from underground stations. The control centre
ensures that if a train breaks down, other trains will automatically stop at a safe distance
away, to avert collision.
The Chief Minister of Delhi, Sheila Dikshit, who has monitored the progress of the project all
along, is relieved. Not only did the introduction of the Metro enable her to win an
unprecedented second term in office having caught, as it did, the fancy of the voters, it has
also given a modern look and character to the city that otherwise lacked an efficient public
transport in keeping with its status as the countrys Capital.
She acknowledges that the Metro would reduce congestion on roads and also bring down
the level of pollution in the city. "We have learnt a lot from the DMRC, its work ethics and
decision-making process," she observed. Incidentally, Delhi Government appoints the
managing director of the DMRC. The Union Government, which is an equal partner in DMRC,
nominates the chairman.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Metro continues to attract visitors from far and wide. They all have
come, seen and concurred that it is comparable with, if not better than, the best in the
world. "The Delhi Metro visit was a highlight of a captivating and enjoyable India tour,"
wrote the assistant private secretary to His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, who was
presented a commemorative framed plaque and a book as a souvenir.
The Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh and his wife, Gursharan Kaur, turned nostalgic after
their ride on the Metro. "As a member of a faculty of Delhi University, I commuted by public
transport to work. At that time Delhi was not as big and crowded... it was easier for me and
my family to commute by public transport," Singh said, recalling the days he used to travel
by bus to the Delhi University.
The trend set by the DMRC has found takers in several states that want to replicate the Delhi Metro
model. The DMRC has already prepared detailed project reports for Bangalore and Hyderabad. The
governments of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat also have approached the DMRC with similar
proposals. The governments of Sri Lanka, Syria and Pakistan also have shown interest in DMRC.