Vineet Abhishek (PFM 2003-05) is an officer of the Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) cadre. He cracked the prestigious Civil Services exam in 2010. Vineet aspires to be a sustainable urban transport professional and currently he is on a study leave pursuing Master of City planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, USA. He is also a Humphrey Fulbright fellow.
Vineet has more than eight years of experience in managing Mumbai suburban and long-distance train services like safety, operations, amenities, station management, and project planning. In his previous role as Senior Divisional Operations Manager at Mumbai Central Division, he touched the lives of 4 million people daily. Before joining civil services, he has worked with organizations like PRADAN, IL&FS.
Social Media:
Twitter: @vabhis
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vabhishek/
Q-1) How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
Ans-1) I consider my current role as a logical extension of what I studied and was exposed to post-IIFM. I had joined IIFM with a passion to work at the grassroots (a decision I had taken during the 3rd year of my grad days at Delhi University). Post my PFM I joined PRADAN (funnily I had to pursue PRADAN with the help of our then placement chairperson Prof. P. K. Biswas Sir. PRADAN had refused to come to IIFM as I was the only person interested to join, and they were in a fix as to how they would conduct GD then!! Biswas Sir ensured I went to Delhi to their HQ and attended GD/interview there and get selected! Happy memories I must say!). I joined PRADAN at Dausa, Rajasthan, and was there for almost a year. Sachin Bansal (PFM 2002-04), my immediate senior, was already there to make things easier.
One assignment led to another and one day my batchmate Jayant Prakash (who was with EDA that time, currently going strong with E&Y) told me that EDA Rural Systems is the most awesome place to work, if one wants a smattering of private sector ethos in rural development work. As providence would have it, he ensured I joined EDA at Jaipur, Rajasthan.
In due course, Jayant‘s opinion evolved a bit, and he told me that IL&FS is the most awesome company to join, if one wants to be involved with government projects. Again, as luck would have it, I was at a conference in Delhi where I met people from IL&FS who coincidentally were searching for someone with grassroots experience for their new project in Kanpur. And I joined IL&FS at Kanpur for a very ambitious project for enhancing the competitiveness of Kanpur Leather Cluster (funded by WB, DFID, Kfw, GIZ). After some months, I shifted to Bhopal to initiate IL&FS‘ new project, and guess what, Jayant Prakash took over from me at Kanpur and ensured the ongoing project reached dizzying heights in terms of planning and achievements (favors returned. Score 1-1. Jayant please note!!).
At Bhopal, I worked for almost three years, and whenever I met senior government officials, I was filled with the desire to shift to the other side of the table. And so, I wrote the Civil Services Examination 2010 and got selected from Bhopal itself. My immediate senior, Mr. Niraj Bansod (PFM 2002-04), who had been selected a couple of years back after having worked at the grassroots, was a big inspiration too.
That’s how I joined the railways, and after completing my probationary training where I saw the whole of India, I got posted in Mumbai. If earlier I was playing some role in the lives of a few hundred villagers and people from marginalized communities, here I was in Mumbai, touching the lives of almost 4 million people daily. It was and has been to date, extremely overwhelming.
Q-2) What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
Ans-2) I owe it to IIFM, and my subsequent jobs, for giving me the confidence to be on my own. I had come to IIFM immediately after graduation and was rather immature. IIFM gave me the foundation and platform to face the world. From day one at IIFM, most faculties treated us as budding professionals, not like students. It was a big change from my graduation days.
My most important learning was getting to know the communities and rural India from close quarters when I joined PRADAN. Those insights have remained with me to date. At IL&FS, the projects I was involved with led to direct jobs for more than 10,000 below poverty line youth of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh and the creation of a couple of PPP mode skill development institutions. In hindsight, these milestones give immense satisfaction.
In Mumbai, being the in-charge of rail operations, particularly the suburban services which are called the lifeline of Mumbai, gives the ultimate ‘kick’ every day. The job profile is rigorous, chaotic, full of pressure, and equally satisfying when you know that one small decision, one additional service, can impact millions daily. Ensuring my staff remained motivated and my services kept running during the entire COVID phase has been a humbling experience, to say the least.
My biggest learning has been to keep learning and never stop. That’s the reason I started writing and doing independent research in transportation. My IIFM junior Aatish Khan inspired and helped me with the Fulbright fellowship decision, and I was a Humphrey Fulbright fellow at MIT during 2019-20 where I delved deep into urban planning and sustainable transportation. Again, I am back at MIT to pursue a 2-year Master of City Planning (2021-23) and will further my skills in decarbonizing transportation, sustainable urban planning, and transport. As I can see, learnings from IIFM and railways are all coming together at MIT.
Q-3) What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
Ans-3) As I mentioned, touching the lives of 4 million people daily is an extremely humbling, and rewarding feeling at the end of every day. Ensuring punctuality, passenger amenities, taking care of emergency situations (which are very frequent), balancing demands from public and political representatives, all lead to a high-pressure situation almost every day. Hence the satisfaction level is even higher.
Q-4)Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers. What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
Ans-4) At IIFM, there cannot be a better teacher and guide than Prof. Amitabh Pandey Sir. His convivial yet firm attitude, his faith in the abilities of his students, and his passion to help us in all spheres of life is unparalleled. I owe my confidence level and my faith in my own abilities to him at IIFM. He has made IIFM a much better place.
Post-IIFM – My first boss at PRADAN, Ms. Zebul Nisha Ma’am, has been a big inspiration to me, and her guidance and teachings about the nuances of rural development have remained with me till date. Mr. RCM Reddy (ex IAS, CEO of IL&FS Clusters), my boss at IL&FS, gave me a totally new perspective about work, ambition, achievements, and how one should go about it. He inspired me in multiple ways, supported each of my endeavors, and has been my guiding light to date.
My wife (who happens to be my batchmate from IIFM) have had a big influence on the professional front too. I have tried to emulate her to the best of my capabilities. It is from her that I learned how one should take big decisions in life without bothering too much about it. Her professional decisions and trajectory have been quite inspiring, and she is the one who motivates me to go beyond what I have achieved. I am trying to follow her on the academic research front too.
My advice to young development enthusiasts at IIFM is – Follow your passion. Sounds cliched…. yes, because that’s the boring truth. Make all efforts to know what your passion is, then follow it, and never stop.
Q-5) What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
Ans-5) We used to have so many parties. There was never a dull moment. With one fieldwork, two internships – we never knew where the two years went! Our seniors, PFM 2002-04 were the coolest seniors you could ever have.
Q-6) In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, and alumni. Anything else!!) or take away from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
Ans-6) Well, I met a girl there at IIFM, who later agreed to be my wife. As my wife says, IIFM is the best place to fall in love! She has partnered with me through my personal and professional travails and made the biggest contribution to whatever I am today.
The bunch of friends and seniors I met at IIFM – have played an immense role in my life. Each one has made my life better in their own ways…many have helped, some have inspired, and one even agreed to marry me.
Q-7) What is your typical day at the office? (We want to know what your day job looks like)
Ans-7) Get up at 6.30 am, on a conference call with my control, I take stock of whatever happened over the last 24 hours, and plan for the next 24 hours. By this time, it is almost 8.00 am. Get ready quickly and leave for the office. Spend time in the control room, set the agenda for the day, then reach the chamber. Work during the day on issues – as diverse as planning a new rail line or station or siding, getting in touch with customers, meeting public representatives, analyzing a previous emergency or punctuality failures, manpower planning, etc. Reach home by almost 8.00-8.30 pm. Be prepared to receive many calls during the night for seeking guidance by control or information for any emergency. Be mentally prepared to rush to the control room in the middle of the night (happens at least 2-4 times a month). Regularly visit railway stations and freight sidings situated across the 566 km jurisdiction.
Q-8) IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitments towards its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, students?
Ans-8) Would love to share and guide young professionals at IIFM with whatever little I know. They are free to get in touch with me anytime.
Q-9) What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
Ans-9) It has become livelier, and recent pass-outs are far more intelligent than we were.
Q-10) Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
Ans-10) You should profile Mr. Arif Hussain, my immediate senior at IIFM (PFM 2002-04), who is doing fabulous work amongst the disadvantaged communities in and around Boston, USA, after completing his MPP from HKS, Harvard. Through him, I was exposed to the underbelly of Boston. He is also associated with multiple voluntary organizations doing work at the grassroots in India. He embodies all the ethos of an ideal IIFMight.