Trivedi’s Railway plan shows courage — it’s a disgrace that his party wants him fired for that
Such Railway budgets happen rarely. Once in 10 years, literally. For Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi of the Trinamool Congress, to muster courage and hike aam admi fares by up to 20 per cent, must have been a leap of faith. Because in India, general class passengers account for 95 per cent of total traffic. The balance 5 per cent is made up by those travelling in air conditioned coaches. The expert group for modernisation of Railways chaired by the prime minister’s adviser Sam Pitroda had recommended a one-time 25 per cent increase in fares to raise Rs 37,500 crore. Trivedi did not exactly do that but with an across-the-board passenger fare hike and a modest 5 per cent growth in traffic, the Railways projected earnings to go up by about Rs 7,000 crore in next year, 25 per cent more than the expected earnings in 2011-12.
The Railway Budget for 2012-13 is notable not just for the fare hike. It gives a much-needed fillip to public-private partnerships in railways by planning to induct a member in the Board who will specially pursue PPP projects. It also does not try to window-dress the Railways’ efficiency by accepting that the operating ratio (the ratio of amount spent to earn Rs 100) will slip to 95 this year. The budget also lays the groundwork for setting up a tariff regulatory authority, a move aimed at eventually depoliticising increases in passenger fares and freight rates. To do all this in one budget is commendable. Trivedi possibly anticipated that Railways was headed towards bankruptcy. He did not stop at just raising the alarm. He pulled the chain, but this time not to stop the engine, but to put the train back on track.
It does not require an economic genius to do all this, but definitely strong political will. Ideally, it would have made sense to spread the hike in fares over a period of time, especially for the bottom segment of passenger traffic. A modicum of increase every year since 2002-03 would have meant nothing to the aam admi. By effecting a sharp hike in one year, he provoked his party, rubbing it in with needless references to Bhagat Singh, God and the country. The capricious Mamata Banerjee has asked for his head — it will be a shame if she gets get it along with a rollback.
