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Purpose: Discuss a methodology to evaluate the component level contributions for individual attributes of service quality at Indian Railway Stations. This can be used towards prioritizing the railway station facilities for their improvements that will lead to higher passenger satisfaction.

Methodology: Individual component level analysis has been carried out for the different attributes with an aim to improve service quality through passenger satisfaction study (user perspective). The component level analysis is Step II subsequent to Step I that determined the degree of dissatisfaction of passengers at attribute level.

Findings: It is found that ‘adequacy’, ‘visibility of the system’, and ‘time of travel’ are the key components to be addressed to improve satisfaction in security system having 52% variance in response explained through these components. Similarly ‘functional amenities’, ‘adequate station furniture’ and ‘sanitation’ explain 49% of variance of attribute passenger amenities.

Research limitations: The work is limited to the subjective evaluation of the physical facilities and functional services of a railway station. Several other aspects like managerial, behavioral are not considered.

Originality/Value: The analysis helps in understanding the components of attributes that contribute to satisfaction of passengers at an Indian Railway Station. Evaluating service quality through degree of dissatisfaction measure in public domain is a method with the advantages of comparison between stations.

With an objective to measure the quality of service provided at Indian railway stations, the purpose of this paper is to propose a method that indicates the level of importance and satisfaction which other known methods of service quality assessment do not clearly provide. In total, six attributes related to passenger services of an Indian railway station are considered. Prioritization of the attributes for improvement of service quality can be decided based on the proposed method.

The Law of Categorical Judgment is used to determine levels of importance and levels of satisfaction of disaggregated passenger groups and passengers as a whole. The law is applied to the responses obtained, using a Likert scale, to the six attributes through random passenger survey of different groups at Howrah Railway Station, a major railway terminal in eastern India. The objective is to check the difference in importance levels and satisfaction levels and then prioritize for improvement accordingly.

The findings are based on the responses of passengers to the questions designed for the purpose of assessing the service quality based on six different attributes. Analysis of results shows that both the levels of importance, as well as satisfaction, can be assessed by the Law of Categorical Judgment. The results indicate that passengers are mostly dissatisfied with “extent of waiting”; thereafter, there is a desire for further improvement of the “security” system. The “travel associated facilities” such as Automated Teller Machine and use of cashless facilities at ticket counters; and “passenger amenities” such as station furniture and refreshment room have also been ranked higher in terms of need for improvements.

The work excludes some of the intangible service aspects such as behaviour, friendliness, managerial skills, etc.

The designed methodology helps in making decisions on levels of service, which is a better indicator of the service quality, particularly for public services such as railway stations.

Through a critical reading of a twentieth-century Bengali artist’s autobiography, this paper aims to attempt to demonstrate how commercial art and the consumption ethos symbolized by that art represented an archetypal bhadralok insignia. A close examination of this insignia reveals how the dynamics of modern liberal values mediating through the colonial capitalist structure in relation to the regional particularities of Bengal opened up a new space of cosmopolitanism, where there is an attempt to reframe cultural practices in the light of a broader global history of interrogation, reason, change and emancipation.

This paper is a historical analysis of primary sources.

It was found that the bhadralok-led Bengal School of Art influenced commercial art of early postcolonial Bengal.

The study is limited to the region of Bengal.

This paper makes contributions to one of the less-researched, but very important areas, of business history in India.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss a vibrant social service culture in British and Indian higher education institutions in the period 1905-1919. The paper explores the many reciprocal influences between India and Britain, which lay behind the student social service movement. Developments in metropole and colony were so influenced by transnational movements of people and ideas that the common approaches and shared ideals which emerged cannot be fully understood by study of either setting in isolation.

The paper draws on a rich vein of college magazines and social service league publications as well as the writings of a range of enthusiasts for social service. The rapid spread of social service ideas across India and Britain relied on the exchange of ideas through English-language magazines and journals and the outreach work of leading social servants who addressed numerous student groups and meetings.

Developments in Indian and British student service were shaped by and shaped in turn a wider social movement in the early twentieth century. Indian and western educationalists spread ideas about student social service through lectures, publications and international exchanges. Student social servants in both metropole and colony shared a set of core values which made up an “ideal of service”. Students in both metropole and colony were enjoined to view their education as a period of preparation for greater service to the nation after graduation. Student service leagues were involved in reworking patriotic idiom to link social service with nation building.

The paper builds on recent work on social service and education to develop knowledge and understanding of transnational networks of educationalists, particular movements of people and ideas between colonial India and metropolitan Britain. Taking social service in higher education as a case study, the paper argues for the need to study developments in both metropole and colony in order to better understand reciprocal impacts.

Academic scholarship on the White Australia Policy (WAP) has highlighted the history of Asian migration, early perceptions and policy-making initiatives. Prominent scholars have also pointed out the impact of the British Empire and WAP on Australia–India relations and early Indian migrants in Australia. Drawing on the debate concerning international students in Australia, our purpose in this article is to recover the role of Indian students in the story of Australian–Indian connections.

The article aims to highlight the reasons behind the involvement of the Australian government in the provision of scholarships and fellowships to Indian students and researchers at Australian universities during the period of WAP. To achieve this, it uses contemporary Australian newspaper reports to explore the popular representations of sponsored Indian students and researchers in Australia from 1901 to 1950.

The article concludes that the prevalence of this racially discriminatory immigration policy created a dissatisfaction among Indians, and some Australian sources of agitation, that helped chip away at the Australian government’s admission policies and the gradual demise of WAP.

This article contributes to the historiography and the effects of colonialism on Australian–Indian relations and debates on policy formation based on ideas of whiteness.

This paper seeks to ascertain the effectiveness of a two-week-long faculty development programme (FDP), organized by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), for teachers of the open and distance learning (ODL) system, with the aim of upgrading their knowledge and skills for developing print self-learning materials (SLMs). The specific aim of this study is to ascertain whether the objectives of the FDP have been achieved, to examine the effectiveness of the training programme and to suggest measures for improvement in future FDPs regarding the design and development of print SLMs.

The study was conducted using a descriptive survey research method, through semi-structured questionnaires and adopted purposive sampling. The first survey was conducted immediately after the completion of the programme, in order to collect feedback from the trainees, while the second survey was conducted after six months of the FDP, using the follow-up approach, so that more reliable and authentic results could be obtained.

The outcomes of the study revealed that the training had been effective in imparting appropriate knowledge and skills to the trainees, with respect to designing print SLMs. However, certain gaps were also identified and have been reported in this paper. Key suggestions have been made to address the shortcomings and improve forthcoming FDPs.

The present research focused on a specific training programme regarding the design and development of SLMs. Therefore, only the teachers and academics who participated in this specialized training activity were considered for the collection of feedback.

The recommendations of this work may be useful for the trainers, FDP coordinators, training institutions and ODL policymakers for planning and designing effective staff development activities for teachers and academics working in ODL institutions. These would be especially useful in the design of FDPs, aimed at orienting teachers who are involved in curriculum planning, design and development of learning resources.

This study is an original research based on the empirical primary data obtained by the researchers. As the largest open university in the world, IGNOU has been playing a key role in staff development for and in ODL in developing countries. This evaluative study of a specialized FDP in the area of SLM design and development is a significant work that may be valuable for planning the staff development strategies and building a training evaluation mechanism.