Rail Budget 2015-16
Keeping
passenger fares unchanged, Minister Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden budget
for Indian Railways Thursday, promising to balance passenger needs and
long-term interests of the organisation to benchmark it globally on quality,
safety and reach.
Nine more high-speed trains, faster
speed of existing trains, Wi-Fi in 400 stations, user-friendly ladders to mount
upper berths, easier norms for unreserved tickets, 17,000 bio-toilets in
trains, better connectivity in north-east, and cameras for safety of women
travellers are among the other highlights of the budget.
"There will be no hike in
passenger fares. We will focus on improving passenger amenities, including
cleanliness," Railway Minister Prabhu said in a 66-minute speech in the
Lok Sabha, watched keenly by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who had handpicked
him for the job. He made no mention of any revision in
freight tariff, as has been the norm in the past.
The minister also promised all this
with a vastly improved operating ratio, which spells out how much money is
spent on day-to-day operations to earn revenues -- an indication of the funds
left for safety and expansion.
He targeted to bring this down to 88.5
percent, or the lowest in nine years, from an unsustainable level of 93.6
percent in 2013-14 and 91.8 percent for this fiscal. This is better than what
the prime minister had asked the railways a few days ago. Globally, a 75-80
percent or lower is seen as a healthy benchmark.
Prabhu also seemed to have ruled out
the sale of surplus land and other assets of Indian Railways. "We will
monetize our resources than sell them for finances," he said, adding:
"Business as usual of asking for budgetary support from finance ministry
is neither sustainable nor necessary."
The minister began with what ails
Indian Railways. "Facilities have not improved substantially for the past
few decades which is the result of under-investment that affects capacity,
leading to poor morale. This fed into vicious cycle of chronic under-investment
for a long time."
Emphasizing that safety, quality of
service, standards and efficiency all suffered due to poor financial resources
available with the Indian Railways in recent decades, the minister said adding
all this further fed into the cycle of poor investment.
"This must be put to an
end," said the chartered accountant-turned-politician, while presenting
the budget for one of the largest railway network in the world. "We have to
make our Indian Railways a benchmark organisation in safety, security and
infrastructure," he said in a speech peppered with several Hindi couplets.
Playing with words, he invoked God
(Prabhu) and said: "One of the first things I asked, 'hey prabhu' how will
all this be possible." Then, he went on to say that he took it upon the
mortal 'Prabhu' to accomplish the task ahead.
Earlier the minister presented a white
paper on Indian Railways, which he said will form a trilogy of what plans he
had in mind for one of the largest such networks in the world along with his
budget for 2015-16 and a Vision 2030 document to be presented later in the
year.
He also set four goals to transform
Indian Railways: Improved customer experience, safer travel, modern infrastructure
and financial self-sustainability. "We will also create a separate
department for taking care of cleanliness."
For the record, India boasts one of
the oldest and the largest railroad networks in the world, ferrying some 23
million people, or a population the size of Australia, as also 2.65 million
tonnes of goods on its coaches, each day.
It serves from 7,172 stations via
12,617 passenger and 7,421 freight trains on a track network spanning Baramulla
in the Himalayan foothills of Kashmir to the southern tip of Kanyakumari in
Tamil Nadu, and from Naharlagun in Arunachal Pradesh to the port town of Okha
in Gujarat.
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