NEW DELHI, 27 February 2005 — India’s Railway Minister Lalu Yadav unveiled a populist railway budget yesterday with no increase in passenger fare and freight charges.
Presenting his budget for the fiscal year 2005-06 to Parliament yesterday, amid an opposition boycott, Lalu quoted a Bihari author, Nagarjuna, to justify the non-increase in passenger fares despite economic imperatives.
“I do not propose to increase any fares in this budget,” said Lalu in his speech, quoting a couplet by Nagarjuna.
“Remember, my friend, the poor have one caste, it is at their bidding that each leaf will shake”, the couplet says.
The minister announced discounts for student community, free travel for those attending interviews for state government jobs and a slew of discounts for needy passengers.
The budget also have provision to make New Delhi Railway Station a world-class station and to provide better amenities for passengers of Bombay local trains.
Targeting large volumes, Lalu decided to spare passengers any fare hike, while reducing the group of goods tariffs from 4,000 to 80, and giving consumers the option to avail themselves of faster service at a premium.
Lalu cut freight rates on items such as kerosene and cooking gas used by the poor and announced discounts to rural students as part of the package of concessions.
As part of the 512-billion rupee ($11.7 billion) spending plan for the financial year ending March 2006, the minister announced a five-year modernization drive to make “Indian Railways the best railway system in the world”.
Lalu, known for his “common man” appeal, announced the introduction of 46 new trains and extension of the routes of 27 others. He also augmented the frequencies of 10 passenger trains and proposed to increase the speeds of 30 others.
Among the new services are trains between Muxaffarpur-Howrah, Bhagalpur-Malda, Bilaspur-Tirupati, Jabalpur-Bhopal, Madras-Secunderabad, Ranchi-Lohardaga, Udaipur-Jaipur, Udaipur-Delhi, Rajkot-Veraval and Amritsar-Attari.
Another feature in the rail budget is the extension of cell-phone railway ticket booking to landline phones, besides making Internet booking facility available for another five-and-a-half hours.
At present, Internet booking is restricted between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m., which will be now be revised to 4:00 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., the railway minister said. People in Bihar can make train enquiries by dialing 139.
Spot booking of vacant berths to be allowed now. No increase has been made in parcel rates too.
Addressing concerns of depleting resources, the minister said that “despite withdrawals in the current year being higher compared to previous years, the fund balances are expected to close with a healthy figure of Rs.69.63 billion.”
He noted proudly for the first time in decades railway earnings had kept pace with overall economic growth. Railway earnings rose by 8.3 percent to 339 billion rupees in the year to March 2005 while the economy grew 8.5 percent.
“The ‘intelligentsia’ criticized my last budget as populist since I hadn’t increased (rates),” he said.
“For decades, the railways’ share of the freight market has been progressively reducing. It’s a matter of pride for every railway person that this year ... the railways regained some market share.”
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi, praised Lalu for presenting a balanced pro-poor rail budget. The premier praised the budget for its vision of modernizing railways within next five years without affecting the common man, however, the opposition members described it as “lackluster and insipid.”
Critics said the government should not introduce new trains every year without raising fares to support the expansion or putting in place the tracks required for their smooth running. “What the minister announced lacks content. It offers little to upgrade safety or modernization,” former Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said.
Godhra Report Tabled in Parliament
Immediately after presenting the rail budget Lalu yesterday tabled in Parliament the interim report of the U.C. Banerjee committee on the 2002 Godhra train burning that killed 59 Hindus, sparking communal violence in Gujarat. The panel was this week given a three-month extension to complete its probe into the tragedy.
The panel’s interim report sparked controversy with its assessment that the train burning was due to accidental causes — doing away with the theory of Muslim miscreants, which Hindu activists used to justify the three-month violence that claimed at least 2,000 lives, mostly Muslims. — Additional input from Indo-Asian News Service.
