| NEWSNOTES The Anti-people Railway Budget (1999-2000)
Sunirmal Moitra T he Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, while placing the budget proposals for his Ministry for the year 1999-2000 before the Lok Sabha, declared that the year concerned would be treated as a year for better railway service for the passengers. A commendable goal no doubt, but the farce lies in the amount of money allocated for the purpose and also in the absence of any mention about the particular services to be improved. Take, for example, the local trains carrying commuters to and from their work places. Any person who is not a usual commuter will be stunned to find the miserable conditions of the compartments including various fittings. Similarly, a long distance passenger has to suffer innumerable difficulties and lack of amenities. There is, in the budget, mention only about proposals to add pantry cars to a few trains only.Let alone improvement of passenger services, the railway budget (1999-2000) should instead be called a budget aimed at fleecing not only those who travel by trains, but also those who normally do not. The Railway Minister has proposed a flat rate increase of 4 per cent in freight charges. This surely would increase the rate of inflation causing further rise in the already skyrocketing prices of essential commodities. Only the other day the Union Govt. raised the prices of some goods and commodities including some sold through Public Distribution System. That anti-people measure brought about considerable increase in the prices of essential commodities. Now the railway budget would add more spice to the already hot soup for the common people. The General budget has added more miseries to the drudgeries of the daily life. The Railway Minister has argued that passenger fare has been raised only for higher classes without hitting the common travellers. This is a strange statement. The affluent section does not usually avail of train facilities. Those who do, do it not at their own cost. The flat increase in the freight rate would hit not only the businessmen, but also the common man. Interesting to note that the Minister has put forward an argument that the increase in freight rate is necessary to collect more money to be invested for the expansion of rail services. This would not be the case, as the extra fund generated by the increased freight rate would be eaten away by rising rate of inflation. The Minister contradicted himself by pointing out that the railway department was falling behind the road transport industry. Increase in freight charges would further drive away the traders to take resort to road transport rather than to use higher-priced wagons, which are more vulnerable to pilferation. So far as distributions of new projects are concerned, the Railway Minister has tried to satisfy the partners of BJP-led Govt. But even in that discriminatory attitude is evident in the fact that the States ruled by non BJP-led parties and especially by Left Fronts and Left-Democratic Front have been denied any substantial benefit. Even the long-standing unfinished projects have not been allotted sums that are necessary for their completion. West Bengal remains, as usual, one of the shabbily treated states. Mamata Banerjee, Trinamul Congress boss and a partner of the BJP-led front has been shocked to find the promises made by Promode Mahajan at the Brigade Parade Ground rally of the party not honoured in the railway budget. Two examples may suffice to expose the attitude of the BJP-led coalition. Electrification project at the Barasat-Hasnabad section of the Eastern Rail requires, at present, a sum of at least Rs. 37 crores for completion. The sum allocated is a paltry Rs. 5 crores. Similarly, for the Ekalkhi-Balurghat rail project outstanding for a long period a meagre amount of Rs. 20 crores has been allocated against the requirement of Rs. 57 crores. |
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