Ex-Rail Head Explains Why He Feels ‘Depressed’ in Delhi
India Gate protests in New Delhi against air pollution crisis. (Image Aryan on X)
Former Chaiman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani in a LinkedIn post made a parallel between his visit to Thailand and his stay in Delhi, questioning if high GDP growth means anything for the people if they are subjected to civic governance apathy.
By AMIT KUMAR
New Delhi, November 27, 2025 — The air in Delhi continues to be grey, smelling chemicals, as the people in the city cough their lung out on streets. A sense of a fait accompli prevails in the national capital. While Union Minister for Environment Bhupender Yadav spent days at picturesque Belém in Brazil, the children also accompanied parents to protest against the foul air in the national capital region persisting for two months now.
The prevailing depression now seems to have swept through the bureaucratic circles. Former Chaiman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani in a LinkedIn post made a parallel between his visit to Thailand and his stay in Delhi, questioning if high GDP growth means anything for the people if they are subjected to civic governance apathy.
“…depressing because I live in Delhi, the capital of a much more powerful nation, with much higher GDP, growth rates, high scores on developmental indices and growing geopolitical influence and yet, we miss these basic necessities of civic governance,” wrote Lohani in his post, as he weighed civic governance in Thailand vis a vis Delhi.
He stated that it was a “pleasure to witness the Thai quality of civic life and depressing to think of Delhi in the same context. If they can do it, why can’t we? And that fundamental question has been haunting me ever since I started going overseas in 1991.”
Lohani has served the Railways as its General Manager also, while he’s currently the director of the PM Museum and Library in the national capital. Lohani also headed Madhya Pradesh Tourism in the past.
“A higher GDP and a higher growth rate is, to the average Indian just a number, whereas a broken road, unhygienic drinking water from the taps and dumps of garbage strewn about almost anywhere is a stark reality,” lamented Lohani.
He further stated that the “common man wants basic, honest and responsive civic governance and if he can’t get it in the capital city of Bharat, the lesser said about the hinterland, the better.”
Ironically, Prime Minister’s Office as a routine has been holding high level meetings for past several years to deal with the civic crises faced by the people in Delhi. Yet there has been no respite.
“While governance has noticeably improved at the highest levels in the past few years, unless the same impact is witnessed at the cutting edge, delivery and bureaucratic levels, the common man would always scoff at even high scores on several developmental indices,” rued Lohani.
He stressed that “improving civic governance is all about quashing corruption, improving decision making, simplifying tendering procedures and providing the kind of leadership that can inspire trust and proactive support of the masses.”
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