The Railway Budget was passed in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday by voice vote. During a debate on it, Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda allayed all fears on Foreign Direct Investment saying the Government was not going for privatisation.
“There need not be any apprehension that the FDI would do some harm. FDI will be brought in such a manner that it will be used only in infrastructure development and not in operations,” he said while replying to a debate. The Minister clarified that the PPP model will help big ticket projects like high-speed and freight corridors. Responding to the attack over hike in passenger and freight fares, the Minister said that he was merely taking forward the decision of the previous UPA Government.
Earlier, the Congress said NDA’s Railway Budget had nothing new to offer and was a ‘copy paste job’ since most of the projects announced were initiated by the UPA. leader of Opposition Ghulam Nabi Azad said the new rail budget looked fresh as ‘NDA is hero in packaging while we are zero’ in highlighting its achievements. Azad said a sound foundation was laid by the UPA during the 11th Five Year Plan. He charged the NDA of presenting old wine in a new bottle. The Opposition members were against bullets trains, privatisation and hiking fares.
He said Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently took part in some functions like launch of five PSlV satellites, train connection up to Katra near Jammu, 240 MW hydro power project in Uri and dry run of a high speed train and all these projects were initiated by the UPA.
Azad said if the Government was really interested in sector’s reforms and progress, it could have initiated steps to augment freight transportation which could have garnered much revenue and reduced burden from highways thereby minimising pollution and accidents. He suggested the Government could eye revenue through scrap disposal and use of railway land.
Congress member Jairam Ramesh had an interesting take. He advised the Government to do away with this ‘colonial idea’ of having separate Rail Budget and termed it as ‘the root cause’ of the financial disaster in the Railways."The Railway Budget is a colonial idea whose time is over. Today, Railway expenditure accounts for only six per cent of the general expenditure of the Government...Why should we have a separate Budget for the RailwaysIJ" he said.
Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien said suggested delinking diesel price hike with fare hike, having safe passage for elephants across railway routes. SP’s Ram Gopal Yadav sought raising the number of general coaches in trains to accommodate more poor travellers. Interestingly, NDA ally RPI(A) demanded cut in rail fares.
Kahkashan Perween JD(U) sought more women constables in Railway Protection Force and posts of TTE etc for them. She suggested opening ticket counters mainly for women and a separate coach in trains with post-natal facilities for pregnant women travelers.