REFORMIST OR POPULIST?

Today, the railway minister of India Mr. Suresh Prabhu presented his maiden railway budget for the year 2015. In India, whenever you try to do something, people instigate their criticism before it; they start to talk about the negative instead of saying that we can achieve this aim. Such thing goes with this railway budget as well! One group of leaders and media is appreciating this and calling it as the ‘reformist’ budget while other group is calling it a ‘squander’ budget. So what is the reality- is it a game changer or this one has disappointed the nation. Let us discuss this one without being biased –

·         There was no hike in the fare of railway this time, as the fare was raised in the month of July and believe me our railway sector is gaining huge revenue since then, yes we are facing inflation due to that but we have to sacrifice something, if we want to improve railways for future.

·         The cleanliness is an important thing in our daily life, but you cannot see it in a railway coach. Especially in India, we can see grimy condition every where even in the railway station. This budget had the focus on cleanliness not in coaches but in stations as well.

·         Yes there was little hike in the loading fare but remember if people want services they have to pay. There cannot be any kind of compromise with the economy, if we do not increase fare how we will generate more revenue for other ideas. Yes, privatization is a solution but it is not a good initiative to privatize everything, it has its side-effects too.

·         Adding some basic provisions in the general bogey such as charging point, cameras for women security, television facility in some railway compartments and quality food for the passenger is a good move.

·         The biggest problem in Indian railway is that we do not get the trains at regular time. There is delay in the trains, which makes our journey full of tragedies and discomfort. I hope this budget and this spirit of Railway Minister will transform Indian rail.

·         We do not get tickets especially, when we are booking an immediate/tatakal ticket for our journey. Introducing tickets from mobile app and help lines will help youth and it will stop the black market too as booking period of one train is now extended up to 120 days from 60 days. Also announced the high speed trains of 200Km/hr in 9 routes.

·         Using railway station building for the other purposes such as shopping malls, restaurants is also a great shift. The private parties can use the building by paying the rent of that place.

·         Disposable bags, disposable beds and vacuum toilets are also a great progress.

According to me this is a reformist budget and its effects will be observed after a time. You need time to see the results, so I believe this will be a game changer. The condition of railways is not a good one but there is some scope for the improvement now. What I was expecting from the present Government they have delivered to us, but it requires some time to implement on the ground. This budget was a ‘reformist’ one than a ‘populist’ one. I hope I have explained every aspect related to this budget.