Ramesh Chand Jain

Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup
Guwahati, India
Focus Area(s)
Civil Service
Critical Tasks
Downsizing
Payroll delivery
Interviewers
Rohan Mukherjee
Country of Reform
India
Town/City
Kamrup, Guwahati
Country
India
Date of Interview
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Abstract

Ramesh Chand (R.C.) Jain, deputy commissioner of Kamrup for Guwahati, India, describes his efforts to revive and reform the Assam State Transport Corp. during his tenure as managing director beginning in the year 2000. At the time he assumed his position, ASTC was on the verge of being closed down after 100 years of existence. It had about 5,400 employees who had not been paid for 14 months, a substantial debt, and only 72 vehicles in operating condition, earnings from which were almost nothing. The employees had been agitating and protesting since 1988. He discusses how he convened meetings of top employees and slowly persuaded them that they would benefit from significant changes. He had political support from the transport minister to undertake reform at any cost. Jain talks about reducing the number of employees through a voluntary retirement plan, requesting voluntary assistance from Tata Motors to train ASTC mechanics and improve repair shops, and starting an innovative public-private partnership by offering ASTC stations to private operators who would use ASTC vehicles and share income. He then convinced the private operators to recruit drivers and conductors from ASTC’s surplus workforce on financial terms favorable to both the operators and ASTC, and started a system under which each vehicle had an owner who was responsible for operating, maintaining and repairing it. He also talks about a zero-based inventory system under which parts were purchased from dealers only when needed. He also negotiated bulk purchases of tires, batteries, lubricants, and fuel, which were then sold to the operators at market rates.  He also discusses other measures taken by the Minister of Transport.

 

Full Interview

36 MB
Ramesh Chand (R.C.) Jain - Full Interview
Profile
At the time of this interview, Ramesh Chand Jain was deputy commissioner of Kamrup for Guwahati. He was managing director of the Assam State Transportation Corporation from 2000 to 2006. He joined the Assam Civil Service in 1983 and served in various capacities.
Keywords
Sustaining Reform
high-level political support for reform
controlling corruption
privatization
public-private partnerships
workforce training
workforce compensation
workforce retrenchment
Not specified