Do we have a Right to Service?

How to create?

The icon for world-class quality is the craftsman.

Think of the craftsmen who built the Taj Mahal, Madurai Temple, Pyramids, Buckingham Palace and more. These craftsmen had the relevant skills and pride in their work. Their excellent work has stood the test of time.

In modern India, we take great pride in showcasing the Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi Metro, the Mumbai Sea Link, Hyderabad Airport and more. They are well maintained.

Unfortunately, maintenance is not considered a responsibility by most governmental institutions…Be it in the case of road construction, rail services, low-income housing and much more.

How to destroy?

To elaborate the point further I refer to the quality of roads in Mumbai city. The only consistent feature across all roads is potholes. This is a chronic problem.

Ideally, these roads should have been built to world-class quality standards. Ideally, the municipal corporation should have designed a preventive maintenance plan and executed the same. Their performance measure should have been Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF). It should have conformed to world class standards. Be the maximum possible.

Consequently, in the same context, breakdown maintenance for potholes, if required, should have been negligible. The performance measure for breakdown maintenance should have been Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). The minimum possible.

Unfortunately, for potholes on Mumbai roads, the MTBF is minimum and the MTTR maximum. That is the annoying problem confronting citizens of Mumbai.

COPQ of Potholes

Compounding the situation, the road repair workers lack pride in their work because they are constantly blamed. Do the workers have the skills required for their work?

Also, for lack of effective maintenance processes and systems, that should have been designed and executed by management, why should workers be blamed? Potholes in Mumbai are management controllable not worker controllable. Stop blaming the worker!

The accountability is clearly that of the municipal corporation. The responsibility of the concerned department.

Finally, has anyone assessed the cost of poor quality (COPQ) associated with potholes in Mumbai? I would like to hazard a guess: The potholes COPQ for the Roads Management Department is approximately 20% of their budget!

Add the above to societal costs associated with delays in reaching your workplace and excess consumption of petrol and diesel.

RIP our sanity. Do we have a right to service? Of course we do. It is time we started to demand it.

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3 thoughts on “Do we have a Right to Service?”

  • Dear Shri Lulla,
    You have raised an extremely pertinent point. In spite of the huge expenditure incurred on maintenance of roads in Mumbai, in the end what we get is the potholes and still bigger craters. Not only the money spent on a perennial basis goes down the drains, the potholed roads are causing damage to vehicles involving large amount on repairs, inflated expenses on fuel and tremendous wastage of man-hours in the resultant traffic chaos. What cannot be counted is degradation of quality of life of average Mubaikar, which often result in dangerous and sometime fatal injuries and accidents.
    Your blog alongwith tell-tale photographs is very relevant and must receive the dire attention all who are concerned for Mumbai. After all, why we cannot get our right for proper service with accountability as a tax paying citizen. We are not getting our rights to safe life. Our human rights are also at stake.
    Thanks for a thought provoking blog. I shall certainly circulate it and wish all others to do so.
    Best wishes and regards,
    Surjit Banga

  • In modern India, we take great pride in showcasing the Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi Metro, the Mumbai Sea Link, Hyderabad Airport and more. They are well maintained.

    SO FAR.
    AS ON DATE
    TILL WHEN ????

    Unfortunately, maintenance is not considered a responsibility by most governmental institutions…Be it in the case of road construction, rail services, low-income housing and much more.

    TOO TRUE
    WE IN INDIA SEEM TO BE BEST AT “BUILD AND SCOOT ”
    SEEMS TO BE A VIRUS THAT HAS GOT ROUTED INTO OUR D.N.A.

    CORRUPTION, LACK OF RESPONSIBILITY, ACCOUNTABILITY ,REWARD/PUNISHMENT SYSTEM………..???
    SURESH GIVE US YOUR SOLUTION

    RIP our sanity. Do we have a right to service? Of course we do. It is time we started to demand it.
    DEMAND IT .?????……………………………………..HOW ??

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