The Railway Minister, Mr Dinesh Trivedi, favours a regulatory body in the railway space. The regulator can function as an advisor on railway fares as well as take calls on public private partnership (PPP) issues.
With this, Mr Trivedi is on a opposite track vis-à-vis his predecessors — Mr Lalu Prasad and Ms Mamata Banerjee — who were against having a regulator. The Planning Commission has for many years now, favoured setting up of a regulator in the railway space.
REGULATOR TO DEPOLITICISE
“There is lot of room (for a regulatory authority). If you want to de-politicise, you must have some kind of regulator which deals with the fare and freight and quality,” Mr Trivedi added.
“I am personally in favour of regulatory body for the Railways which will benefit it in the long run. But it all depends on Parliament and the government. If they feel then it can be done,” Mr Trivedi said at a conference organised by FICCI.
BOARD RESTRUCTURE
About the possibility of restructuring the Railway Board for better results, he said, “Restructuring is a continuous process. It is now operation oriented, it should be customer oriented. Unless we know what customer wants then it will be difficult for us to carry forward.”