The Hindu : Front Page : Mamata does a balancing act

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Saturday, Jul 04, 2009
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Mamata does a balancing act

K. Balchand

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee did a balancing act sticking to her promise of presenting a pro-people Railway budget but at the same time initiated measures which would yield revenue and sustain the commercial viability of the railways.

Apart from revisiting the Tatkal scheme reducing the time factor and the charges, Ms. Banerjee has sought to please the youth by promising a low-cost train, urban women who would now have special trains in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata, and the unorganised labour who would be given monthly seasonal tickets of Rs. 25.

On the other hand, she has decided to use for commercial purposes railway land and set up at least 50 multi-functional complexes with shopping facilities, food stalls and budget hotels.

She intends to earn a hefty sum for the railways by launching premium service for container movement, private ownership of special purpose rolling stock for commodities and private operation of freight terminals, mega logistic hubs, and premium parcel service, to name a few.

Most of these will be taken up as joint ventures in the public private partnership mode. While it will help the railway’s cause, the measure allows private players in the operations. The modalities and the stakes for the private parties will be decided in course of time, officials said.

Of course, she is once again seeking to revive her idea of using the optic fibre cable network of the railways and taking information technology to the remote areas. If it fructifies, it would yield considerable revenue.

Moreover, she did not undo most of the other measures that her predecessor had initiated to increase the profitability of the railways.

But no less significant is the fact that she did not touch the passenger and freight rates. Though she did not raise the charges, the fact remains that it is for the first time in six years that these had not been reduced. Her predecessor had during his five-year tenure reduced passenger fares in each of his five budgets.

Ms. Banerjee’s decision to set up a number of expert committees including one for advising her on innovative financing and implementation of economically unviable but socially desirable projects, on the basis of which she intends to prepare a blue print of the schemes to be implemented in the coming five years, is also a clear indication of the bigger role that private players will have in shaping the destiny of the Railways.

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