The Railway Budget becoming a part of the General Budget is just like transferring water contained in a smaller vessel to a bigger one. There is nothing more to this (“Centre to do away with rail budget from next year”, Sept. 22 ). The only notable factor is that the Railway Ministry has lost its 92-year-old privilege of presenting a separate Railway Budget. The anxiety that the merger would pave way for privatisation of the Indian Railways is baseless as the Cabinet is competent to implement it even if it is part of the General Budget.
B. Prabha,
Varkala, Kerala
Advancing the presentation of the Budget to allow Parliament to vote on tax and spending proposals before the beginning of the new financial year on April 1 is a good idea. It will turn the focus back to the Indian Railways’ crying need to boost its capital expenditure over the next few years. I understand that the demand for merging the Railway Budget with the General Budget had come from the Railways Minister as a solution to addressing the railways’ revenue deficit and capital expenditure needs. Having given away its budgeting powers, the Railways will now have to show the resolve for implementing reforms if it expects the Finance Ministry to loosen its purse strings.
C. Seshagiri,
Mysuru
The origin of the Railway Budget can be traced to the Acworth Committee, appointed in the early 1920s, to deal with railway finances (“Railway Budget, a vanishing trick”, Sept. 22). It was only after careful study that a separate Rail Budget was proposed.
Integrating the Railway Budget with the General Budget in the name of reforms is tantamount to ignoring the true course of historical facts.
N. Sadasivan Pillai,
Kollam, Kerala
