Railway Minister Lalu Prasad’s fifth budget is a carefully crafted mix ofpopulism and pragmatism. Many might blame Lalu Pradad for being responsible forleading his home state Bihar downhill in most growth parameters, but in hisavatar as the railway minister he has come to be seen as someone who manages todeliver better and better services without raising the passenger fares. It is adifferent matter that if one looks at service delivery, the last few years haveseen no improvement in punctuality or cleanliness of trains or stations. Norhave passengers amenities improved in anyway, despite announcements andassurances to the contrary.
Nonetheless, that hasn't stopped Prasad from playing to the galleries in his2008-09 budget, which could be his last before elections next year. So you havea 2-7 per cent reduction in passenger fares across all classes alongside many anannouncement of welfare and employment generation schemes.
The passenger fare reduction mantra is no magic but careful planning anddesigning by in-house talent, point out railway ministry officials. Over thelast two years, Indian Railways, which operates over 14,000 trains daily, hasstarted operating not only longer trains on popular routes but also has beengradually replacing the passenger coaches with new stainless steel ones withincreased seating and sleeper berth capacity to offer cheaper fare whether forordinary class or air-conditioned coaches.