Government has put Railways on track to disaster, says opposition

NEW DELHI: The opposition in Rajya Sabha hit out at the government for allegedly raising rail fares through the "backdoor", making the Railways sick as it was being driven by loans and said the government had rendered the state-run transporter a sick enterprise which needed drastic surgery.

Initiating the debate on the Railway Budget, Congress member Ahmed Patel said under the present government, the loan liability of Railways had increased several times.

"This model is driven by loans. In the years to come, the loans will get accumulated if you follow the Gujarat model of development. This is a recipe for for sickness," he said.

"You now have premium tatkal and tatkal. Why are you using a backdoor to raise prices? Why don’t you increase price through the budget itself?" asked Patel, who evoked laughter by saying that he hoped that his criticism would not attract sedition charge.

Ram Nath Thakur of JD (U) also opposed the budget saying it did not provide for filling up vacancies, while SP’s Naresh Agarwal said railway bureaucracy was suffering from paralysis.

BJP’s R K Sinha dismissed the criticism. "The budget is people-oriented and far sighted. Congrees has failed to realise this because it does not want to acknowledge the truth," Sinha said.

Patel said, "The Railways is sick and it needs a big surgical operation." Stating that while the minister was good, the railways was not not doing good, the veteran Congress member said the transporter was heading for a big fiasco. "It makes me wonder whether it is the PMO or the minister who is running the ministry," he added.

He also quoted Warren Buffet to say "when you shop for something you don’t need, you will end up selling things you need" and said it was time the government paid attention to real issues.

Taking a jibe at the government, Patel said two years had elapsed since the bullet train was announced but nobody knew its details.

"It is supposed to link Ahmedabad and Mumbai, but people in Ahmedabad have no clue about the grand plan." He also said that while he had nothing against bullet trains, the focus on it should not be at the cost of Railways’ core priorities.

Samajwadi Party’s Naresh Agarwal said perhaps railway officers were suffering from paralysis as the practice of checking tracks and other safety measures had been stopped and no DRMs were found inspecting the affairs.

He said there was no coordination among RPF, GRP and civil police and also stressed the need to enhance the speed of trains.