My wish list for the Railway Budget.

               Being wise, Mr. Suresh Prabhu, did not announce any new train   or project or new line last year because he knew he had no money . No extra money has flowed in now although plans are afoot.  He has to be wise this year too.. Then Railways would survive.   

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               Mr.Sadananda Gowda  did some plain speaking in his Railway Budget speech in 2014.   He said that out of 676 projects in  30 years, only 327 had been completed and after spending the original estimate Rs.1,57,883 crores, now Railway Bureaucracy needed Rs.1,82,000 crore to complete the rest and  only one out of 99  New lines sanctioned in the last ten years had been completed.  Our Parliament meekly accepted such gross inefficiency.

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             . Rs.8.56 lakh crores are needed to modernise in the next five years including Rs.1.27 lakh crores for safety (  p169 Bibek Debroy Report ) and nearly Rs.4.91 lakh crores are needed to execute  the pending projects.  ( p136. BDR) There have been 23 committees so far to reform Railways. The  self-preserving Railway Bureaucracy has ignored most of the recommendations of the 22  earlier committees. Of the Anil Kakodkar committee’s 106 recommendations on safety (2012) 70 were discussed and 36 yet to be discussed  including  the creation of Railway Safety Authority.  The list of accepted but unimplemented recommendations is long..  Accounting reforms suggested  in 1985 are yet to take off.P128 BDR)  .   Mr.Prabhu must stand firm and allot sufficient funds to implement  Debroy report  in full.   

. This Bullet train can wait for another decade as it means taking a Japanese loan for Rs.90, 000 crore besides our money Rs.10,000 crores.  

 ,            If FDI is to come, zonal Railways must be corporatized. . The PPP did not  progress since the Railway  Bureaucracy    would  ensure it failure. Look at their power!  Although 1973 Pay Commission asked them to abolish Bungalow peons, they still retain 1126   peons. A corporate Board  at best may have  40-60- personnel to assist the Board. The Railways have 1107 persons   working in the Board secretariat.  Railway Board was not worried  that operating ratio  was over 90% from 1980-2005,  .

It made 17  Zones out of  9  Zones  to have   that many GMs, DGM(g)s,  DGMs,  AGMs, .  CCMs more and  so many thousands more   including 40 more DRMS. Debroy committee records the efficiency did not increase even by one percent because of this creation of new Zones. The operating ratio was at 75.94 % in 2007-08  . The Railways must get back to this figure from the current unacceptable 91%.  

              The Unions are going to strike. Goats never liked Bakhrit.. Reforms will be stoutly opposed. Mr. Prabhu must gear  up   to manage the strike. The staff must be reduced at least by10%.this year as the staff cost remains at unconscionable 51% of revenue.  Surgery is needed. .On the night of  16^th November, 1980, the entire Railway Board was sacked and M.S. Gujral was appointed Chairman and Mrs.Gandhi signed the order at 2.00 am .  Later, he sacked 900  Railwaymen on  single day. If the zones are constricted to   5 again, the savings will help. In order to raise the Rs.8 lakh crores, he must sell lock, stock and barrel Railway Quarters, hospitals,   schools and the lands surrounding them. They have outlived their purpose of creation. Non-core pet projects like nursing College, Medical College and Railway University   must be immediately dumped to save money.   .

             Profit can be made either by enhancing the revenue or by reducing the cost. There is already a drop in passengers’ revenue. Before any fare hike is attempted, this must be borne in my mind. Any more increase in A/c classes will persuade the people to fly. Season tickets have still scope for increase. Fare must be fixed per km.  Prices of commodities ten years ago  and now should be compared with Railway ticket prices ten years ago and now  to convince the public. Development charges must go and rationalization of cancellation charges must be done.

  .    The cost of concessions must be borne by the respective Ministries instead of the Railways. Concession for handicapped will be borne by Welfare Ministry. This suggestion (DBR) can be implemented now. As   senior citizens occupy more berths and seats, Railways suffer erosion in income. Their concession must be limited to 20% for both genders.

Mr. Suresh Prabhu will not get encomiums but posterity will not willingly forget him.

                                                                   S..Pushpavanam 93451 01216

Secretary, Consumer Protection Council, TN. (786)