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The
Railways desperately need an upgrade: more trains, faster,
cheaper, safer. And Laloo says he can do it without
increasing fares.
 Laloo
Prasad Yadav's railway budget is the first in the last
two decades, not to raise passenger or freight charges.
All we have this year is a small increase in parcel
rates, which is estimated to add a mere Rs 50 crore
(one crore is 10 million) to the Railways kitty. Having
pleased the masses, the classes and the captains of
industry with his 'feel-good' touch, the railway minister
has gone ahead to announce 15 new express trains (apart
from the 17 Sampark Kranti Express trains announced
in the February 2004 interim budget — for introduction
in the current year — by his NDA predecessor Nitish
Kumar), 10 services to be extended and the frequency
of 12 popular trains to be increased, as well as a slew
of concessions for disadvantaged sections, ranging from
unemployed youth to war widows and the physically challenged.
Notwithstanding
the tight purse strings, the minister stressed on development
and expansion of railway infrastructure as mentioned
in the common minimum programme of the United Progressive
Alliance. Modernisation of the railways, track renewal,
safety, cleanliness and improvement in passenger amenities
are the particular infrastructure priorities he has
identified.
The
Indian Railways desperately needs to upgrade its infrastructure.
This is not only apparent to the ordinary traveller,
but has been stressed on by the recommendations made
by panel after panel appointed by the Railways to look
into its various aspects of its functioning. What does
Laloo's budget offer in terms of infrastructure for
2004-05?
Projects
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Addition
of 1,650 km of broadgauge track (1,222 km added during
2003-04)
-
Target
of 1,000 km of gauge conversion from metre gauge to
broadgauge in 2004-05
-
The
Jammu-Udhampur railway line has been completed and
the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla project is proceeding
as per target
-
381
km of lines to be doubled (206 km completed during
2003-04)
-
72
surveys for new lines, gauge conversion and doubling,
including updating of old proposed surveys
-
Electrification
of 375 route km (504 km completed during 2003-04)
-
Projects
in north-eastern states and southern states to be
expedited
-
62
throughput enhancement works identified for speedy
completion
-
A
detailed project report to be commissioned for setting
up a new axle-wheel manufacturing plant at Chhapra,
in the minister's home state of Bihar
-
In-house
utilisation of metallic scrap by recycling
-
Introduction
of block proving by axle counters, train protection
and warning system and provision of anti-collision
device (ACD)
-
Safety
on long welded rails through the measurement of actual
forces
-
Prohibition
on transportation of explosives and inflammable materials
in trains to be enforced
-
Setting
up of an institute of rescue and medical relief at
Bangalore, with training modules on disaster management
-
Bridge
improvement and rehabilitation
-
Trials
of corrosion resistant wagons
-
Introduction
of crew friendly cabs
-
Setting
up of the International Railway Strategic Management
Institute
-
Introduction
of a computer-based traffic control system
-
Extension
of the Material Management Information System (MMIS)
-
Pilot
project on eProcurement
-
Claim
offices to be computerised
-
Unreserved
ticketing system being extended
-
Extension
of the computerised reservation system; 74 new centres
(presently 1100)
-
300
goods sheds and sidings to be covered under the rake
management system of the freight operations information
system (FOIS)
-
Coaching
operations information system (COIS) — to cover
passenger coaches and parcel vans — will be implemented
-
Electronic
payment gateway for speedy and secure transfer of
funds from freight customers
 The
2004-05 annual plan outlay for the Railways has been
pegged at Rs 14,498 crore (Rs 144.98 billion), which
is Rs 773 crore (Rs 7.73 billion) higher than the outlay
of the interim budget. In addition, Rs 300 crore (Rs
3 billion) for the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramullah line
in Kashmir is to come from the general exchequer. Rs
2,933 crore (Rs 29.33 billion) is to be spent on safety
related works through the Special Railway Safety Fund.
Total
outlay under capital on the five major plan project
heads this year has been estimated at Rs 2,696 crore
(Rs 26.96 billion) with Rs 947 crore (Rs 9.47 billion)
on new lines (excluding Rs 300 crore for the Kashmir
rail project). An additional Rs 760 crore (Rs 7.60 billion)
is for gauge conversion and Rs 125 crore (Rs 1.25 billion)
for electrification.
How
do the numbers add up? With market borrowings of over
Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) and with a lot of optimism,
of course. But then, Laloo is not the first minister
to do this; not by a long shot. Just as an example,
the NDA's Nitish Kumar had proposed 230 projects costing
upwards of Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) in his interim
budget. In addition, the vision document released by
the ministry spoke of a 'bullet train corridor project'
between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, at a cost of up to Rs
25,000 crore. The Railways raised Rs 3,000 crore (Rs
30 billion) in market borrowings in 2003-04. And, speaking
at a press conference then, the minister had said, "The
railway finances are in a comfortable state… we
may not need to raise passenger or cargo traffic rates."
In
contrast, Laloo's ministry has eschewed any grandiose
projects, and plans to cut costs. The impressive-sounding
concessions he has announced have actually been estimated
to cost the ministry no more than Rs 4.5 million over
the rest of the year. Ordinary working expenses —
at Rs 32,960 crore (Rs 329.60 billion) in the interim
budget — have been scaled down by Rs 100 crore
(Rs 1 billion). Besides, his budget speech speaks of
introducing stringent measures for expenditure control
and zero-base budgeting. Populism (the adjective most
commentators
have used to describe Laloo's budget) is no monopoly
of the present UPA government; it seems, rather, to
be an inalienable part of Indian governance.
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