Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu Presenting Rail Budget 2015
Suresh Prabhu, chartered accountant turned politician, spoke in English and Hindi, drew laughs with puns, and emphasised early that the "vicious cycle of underinvestment" in the Railways must end. He also confirmed that there will be no increase in passenger fares.
Mr Prabhu is presenting the Narendra Modi government's first full-year Railway Budget, watched keenly as an indication of what the Union budget - billed as a make-or-break presentation on Saturday - will hold.
Mr Prabhu said Railway facilities haven't improved much in the last few decades because of chronic underinvestment and pledged to correct that.
He has promised faster trains that are also more punctual. He stressed on "participatory governance" and said his ministry had received over 20,000 suggestions and had started working on some of them.
"Over the next five years, the Railways has to go through a transformation," he said listing cleanliness, safety, modernization of infrastructure and making the railways financially self-sustainable as his four big goals.
His priority, he said, was also to significantly improve capacity over the next five years.
The Railway Minister began his speech by quoting Mahatma Gandhi and promised that the Railways would "play its role in poverty elimination", a goal set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
He had given a hint of what his budget would be like when he said earlier this morning, "It is a long journey, everything can't be accomplished in the first year."
"We need to begin in the right direction, we can't be sitting in a train to Chennai if we want to go to Kolkata," he said setting the tone for long-term reforms in the bleeding Railways.
Mr Prabhu's induction as India's Railway Minister three months ago was touted by analysts as proof of the Modi government's reformist agenda. Known for his performance as Power Minister in 2002, Mr Prabhu, 61, faces huge expectations today.
The Railway finances are under terrible strain; its operating ratio is 94 per cent meaning it saves just 6 paise on every 1 rupee it earns from operations, leaving little surplus funds for infrastructure development. In 2007-08, the operating ratio was a healthy 76 per cent. Mr Prabhu can raise additional resources by hiking passenger fares, but his deputy has ruled out any increase in fares in the upcoming Budget. The railways incur a loss of Rs 26,000 crore on passenger fares, which is cross-subsidized by freight fares.
Freight rates are already among the highest in the world because of which the railways has been consistently losing market share in goods transportation to the roads sector.
Mr Prabhu needs to generate additional funds to complete pending projects, build new infrastructure and improve passenger amenities.
No comments:
Post a Comment