Atul Cowshish
Indian politicians and the people in general are so used to greeting even a small increase in any tariff or commodity price with instant howls and protests that it would have appeared almost a natural reaction when the NDA Government’s decision to hike the railway tariff, both passenger and freight, received all-round criticism. The timing of the announcement, close to the first session of the parliament under a new dispensation, added to the political pique.
Admittedly, a more than 14 per cent hike in passenger fare in one go is a bit too much and raising the freight charges by over 6 per cent does not appear to be a step in the direction of curbing inflation. The expected income from the increased tariff is Rs 8,000 crore which may not be enough to modernize the railways. The criticism by the ordinary people may be explained as a reflexive action because it would have come even if the hike was 1 or 2 per cent. Most Indians are adversely affected by any price rise because their incomes are limited and, in fact, in most cases also very unsure.
But the politicians appeared to be criticising only for the sake of it, hoping to win over sections of the voters for battles ahead. Only an illiterate politician would have been surprised or shocked by a fare and freight hike announcement by the railways because it has been on the cards for long.
The Indian Railways will only get worse if its modernisation programme that includes better safety measures is delayed any further. We can damn this or that party or individual for the neglect but the reforms in the railways can no longer be delayed in the interest of the long suffering travelling public. And it will not come without putting some burden on the public. Adjusting account books will not help in finding the resources needed.
Worst of all was the defence put up by the Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda. It was patently absurd for a Minister in a BJP-led government to say that he was merely executing a decision taken by the previous Congress-led UPA Government. Surely, the honourable minister knows that his Government was not elected to execute the decisions taken by his rivals when they were in power, especially when the NDA was critical of everything that the previous Government did-or did not. It is a different matter that the previous Government was accused of being ‘paralysed’ and rarely took any decision!
The fare hike is not a policy matter that has to be continued after a change in regime. It is a sort of executive decision that can be amended, scrapped or deferred by a new government when it comes to power. The railway minister’s effort to pass the blame on to the previous government looked all the more puzzling when it came in the midst of an all out war his government had launched against the Raj Bhavan occupants appointed by the UPA Government. The NDA government made it clear that it wanted the governors out merely because they were nominees of the Congress-led Government. In fact, the NDA Government has lost no time in reversing or cancelling many practices and decisions of the previous Government; some of them going back decades.
The sorry state of affairs in the Indian Railways is hidden from no one. It is inefficient, indifferent to passenger comforts and what is more alarming train travel is becoming unsafe. It is crying for improvement and modernization. The deterioration in the Indian Railways would have probably been checked if the portfolio of railways had not become an important tool in pre-empting rebellion by partners in coalition governments that were in power for almost three decades in the past.
The ‘lucrative’ portfolio of the railways was always an award reserved for a coalition partner. This is not to suggest that previous railway ministers made money but there is no doubt that they utilised their position to consolidate their hold by distributing favours like jobs and contracts to their supporters.
Then there was this famous case when a railway minister lost his job because his party boss did not approve his advocacy of increasing the fares. Even more famous was the instance of the railway ministry being virtually shifted to the minister’s constituency from Rail Bhavan in Delhi. The increasing number of accidents did not make the minister spend more time at the ministry’s headquarters in Delhi.
There is little accountability for serious lapses and fatal accidents. The safety measures are talked about but very little has been done on the ground because successive ministers had little time for their job. A strict regimen of accountability will surely lead to some improvement though it will be futile to always quote the example of Lal Bahadur Shahstri who had quit as Railway Minister after a serious railway accident. He had lived and worked in a different time when politics and politicians were clean and the sense of serving the people without hoping to reap any reward was almost non-existent.
Transferring the blame for the fare and freight hike to the predecessor Government is bad enough, what is equally uncalled for is the seeming hurry to introduce bullet trains as a showpiece achievement. India with its vast distances does need fast trains, even bullet trains that do 300 miles an hour or so. For that kind of train we need separate corridors that will cost a lot of money-and land.
If money is not going to be a problem what most people would like to see is an improvement in the tracks, laying new lines and implementation of safety measures that have been on the back burner for years. Since Independence, Indian Railways has added only about 9000 km of new tracks which is far too little. The delay in executing sanctioned projects is not a disease that affects only the railways. But one would imagine that delays in projects that have strategic importance would not be tolerated. Our northern and eastern borders areas still have poor or no railway connectivity.
The NDA Government has promised ‘acche din’ (good days) to the people. Presumably that includes a ‘world class’ railway service that is quick, efficient and safe. A fare hike may irk the users but they will ultimately forget and forgive it if train travel does become a pleasant and satisfactory experience.
(Syndicate Features)
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