Budget sidelights

No divine intervention

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu sought divine intervention in changing the face of the Railways but apparently got no help, or so it would seem from what he said in his budget speech. Evidently playing on his name Prabhu (god), he said: “I asked myself, ‘Oh, God, how will we bring about the change? And God did not reply. Then this ‘Prabhu” decided...,’ adding later that while “we can deliver, we cannot deliver overnight.”

MPLADS in demand

The Modi government’s repeated appeals to MPs to use their MPLADS funds for its pet projects are beginning to rankle. After asking MPs to dig into the MPLADS to promote the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and the Saansad Aadarsh Gram Yojana, the government on Thursday asked parliamentarians to use these funds to improve facilities at railway stations.

As Mr. Prabhu made this appeal in his speech, the Opposition benches protested, though he cited the examples of two MPs — P.C. Mohan and Gopal Shetty — who have “donated” money out of their MPLADs for creating passenger amenities at railway stations in their constituencies. Many MPs opposed to using MPLADS for govt. programmes saw this as abdication of responsibility by the state.

Yoga classes for railway staff

Reflecting the government’s love for yoga, Mr. Prabhu has proposed to provide yoga training to railway staff, particularly the Railway Protection Force. The move was welcomed by yoga guru Baba Ramdev, who tweeted that Patanjali Yogpeeth would provide full support to the initiative. Additionally, the government intends to train its frontline staff in soft skills to make customers feel welcomed. This may be easier to do than yoga classes given the employee base of the Railways, which stands at 13 lakh.

Abrupt wrap-up

The Opposition benches were shell-shocked by the absence of any new train, which usually comes towards the end of the budget speech and generates a lot of noise: applause from those belonging to areas sanctioned new services or stoppages, and anger from MPs representing constituencies left out.

In fact, Mr. Prabhu had indicated that he would announce the new trains and increased frequency later in this session of Parliament, but the point was lost on most. So when he wrapped up his speech minutes later, it was not just the Opposition but even the Treasury benches which felt a tad agitated by what has always been the most awaited part of the speech.

( By Anita Joshua )