Railway Budget: It’s a corporate show: Cong

While the Congress slammed the Railway Budget and said it was more like a corporate presentation, the ruling BJP said it will give a roadmap to the growth of the Railways.

There are no steps to help the Railways on the ground, said Congress MP Shashi Tharoor. “We saw that at the end of the Budget presentation a number of MPs stood up protesting. Normally in railway budgets the government used to give specific proposals for their constituencies and there was no such thing in this budget,” he said.

“In this budget, it’s more of a corporate presentation on plans and proposals, mainly on paper. Not enough concrete proposals for actual change in the services on the ground,” Tharoor added.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad contested this, saying the Centre is giving a new direction to the Railways.

“The Congress is used to a particular style of development, which was rejected by the people. They are limited to 44 members because of this style of development. This Budget is innovative and will help the Railways to give better facilities to common people and better its existing facilities,” he said.

The CPI (M) said the Budget is disappointing. The most worrisome aspect concerns the financial health of the Railways, said a statement from the party Politburo.

“Last year’s performance has been much below the anticipated earnings of the Railways. Both freight and passenger earnings have significantly dropped and the gap between the budgetary estimates and the revised estimates of Railway revenue is around a massive ₹17,000 crore. Further, the Railways require around ₹32,000 crore to fulfil the obligations and recommendations of the Seventh Pay Commission. This means the Rail ways are starting the financial year with a shortfall of nearly ₹50,000 crore. This shortfall, the Railway Minister hopes, will be bridged,” the statement said.

The AAP said it has been the modus operandi of the Modi government to keep the budget speech limited to popular announcements and then use back-door official orders to bring in anti-people moves.

“Around 23 per cent unannounced hike in rail fares happened …last year. The passenger has been tricked by adding the insurance component, which he will have to pay from his pocket. Apart from token announcements of Antyodaya coaches, there is no step for making trains truly accommodative for the poor and the needy,” an AAP statement said.