'Metro Man' says his experience in DMRC 'very satisfying'

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Set to retire on December 31, Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan sums up his 16-year experience as 'very satisfying' and attributes the organisation's success to the 'different work culture' and fast decision making process.

79-year-old Sreedharan, who has worked in government service for over 58 years in different organisations and capacities, says he wants to spend his post-retirement days in his village in Thrissur district of Kerala.

In an interview with PTI, the technocrat spoke about his experiences in Delhi Metro, the hurdles he faced during the initial days and how the organisation was different from other government companies.

Sreedharan, who joined DMRC in 1995, said there were no problems with regard to funds and clearances from government department but the main challenge during the construction of Metro was about the 'complex technology' that was new to the country.

"It was a very satisfying experience, quite satisfying experience. It is a new field as far as the country is concerned. It was new experience as we were planning for a world-class metro," he said.

Delhi Metro, which started operations in 2002 on a 8-km stretch, now has 190 km network across the National Capital Region and is the fastest growing Metro network anywhere in the world, he said.

When asked how Delhi Metro was different from other government organisations, he said it was because of the different work culture that exists.

"The environment that we created for people to work and the type of work culture that we have created here is the reason. That is entirely different from a normal government organisation. We take very fast decisions and everything is done in a very transparent way," he said.