oppn parties Prabhu Presents a Sensible Budget

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
Prabhu Presents a Sensible Budget

By Sunil Garodia
First publised on 2015-09-22 12:48:36

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.
The angry shouting by MP’s that took place when Suresh Prabhu ended his budget speech told the whole story. Prabhu has presented a very sensible and forward looking budget that has eschewed populism and looks to manage rail resources in a tight and prudent manner. The MP’s were angry as Pradhu had not announced any new trains â€" as many of them would have petitioned him to. But where is the money? The minister has set a precedent â€" it is the first time that no new trains have been announced in the rail budget.

The emphasis is on optimum utilization of existing resources, transparency and monetization of assets. A road map has been created for the development of the railways in the next five years and during this period the minister seeks to invest 8.5 lakh crore. This money he proposes to get from various sources, including the private sector under PPP route. He could have increased passenger fares by at least 10 % to reduce cross subsidization from freight charges. That would have given him the cushion to rationalize freight charges and bring more volumes. He has begun the process of digitizing the assets inventory, which will ensure optimum use and induct transparency.

The emphasis is also on providing facilities like more toilets, better stations, wi-fi at stations, security for women passengers, better and increased drinking water facilities and better food for passengers. Some elements of PM Modi’s Swachh Bharat abhiyan come in as the minister said that a Swachh Railways will ensure a Swachh Bharat. The minister proposes to train frontline staff in soft skills so that the passengers feel welcome. He has also increased the advance ticket booking time to 120 days in order to end the tout menace.

Where the minister has missed out is in taking this opportunity to corporatize the railways. He could have broken the utility into several companies like the Konkan Railway. That would have brought in much needed funds through share sale and would have professionalized the utility. It would have also meant that it would have ceased to be a government department. Perhaps, it would also have made his post redundant.

Prabhu has said that everything cannot be done in the first year. But well begun is half done. He has begun well. Let us hope he continues to go beyond populist measures and nurses back the railways to the pink of health. It is a tough call, but Prabhu has shown steps can be taken if the will is there.