Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Wednesday justified the hike in certain charges, as announced in the Rail Budget and hinted there could be further increase on some counts for the ‘balanced development’ of Railways that has ‘limited resources’. Bansal also invited investments from corporates to improve amenities at railway stations.
He also announced 19 new services and added another 60 stations to the list of those identified for upgrade as Adarsh Stations. But the Opposition BJP, JD(U), BJD, Trinamool Congress, left, Shiv Sena and others, remained dissatisfied with his reply to the debate on Railway Budget and walked out of the lok Sabha.
The Budget proposal had revised upwards reservation fee and supplementary charge for superfast trains and freight charges ‘to maintain rolling stock and generate revenue’.
The Minister claimed bulk of travellers who did not travel by air-conditioned coaches, were the ‘least affected’ with the increase. About 2.3 crore people travel by train daily and reservation category is just five per cent of total tickets.
Bansal rejected Trinamool’s charges about ‘ignoring’ Bengal, saying funds provided previously were not fully utilised. “We cannot indulge in financial profligacy. We cannot indulge in the luxury which was resorted to earlier. There is no discrimination,” he said. Out of 980 stations identified for being developed as Adarsh Stations, work has been completed in 632 stations, he informed the House.
The Minister claimed ‘tangible progress’ has been made on the Dedicated Freight Corridor project and 86 per cent of land on the Eastern Corridor had been acquired. He also set for himself an ambitious target of achieving 80 per cent operating ratio - the money spent to earn every Rs 100.
Bansal dismissed more stoppages for Shatabdi, Rajdhani or other mail/express trains as this would affect their speed. Referring to Toy Train service in Darjeeling hills, Bansal said the service has been stopped due to landslides and efforts were on revive the line.
The Budget was later passed by the lok Sabha by a voice vote in absence of the Opposition.
Initiating the debate on the Railway Budget in Rajya Sabha, BJP leader Balbir Punj criticised the UPA for the dismal financial situation of Railways, reflected by the Budget presented by successive Ministers.
He said financial turnaround as claimed by former Railway Minister lalu Prasad was found to be absolutely bogus by a White Paper brought by his successor Mamata Banerjee. Now, Railways MoS Adhir Ranjan Chowhdury wants to bring out a similar White Paper for the period the Ministry was outsourced to the Trinamool. “We hope he keeps the promise and we get actual in-house information about the financial health of Railways, “he said.
Criticising the Rail Budget for its extreme focus on Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency Rae Bareli, he said many new trains and a coach factory has been sanctioned for it. He flayed the Government for the slow pace of rail development, even lesser than the pace of growth during the British era, when most equipment was imported. Referring to the tragic accident at Allahabad station in which many Kumbh pilgrims lost their lives, he said no adequate measures were being taken for railway safety.