Clearly, Nitish has ignored the pressure on railway finances by successfully resisting a fare hike. But even the most carping reformists have been silent because even they didn’t expect a harsh budget in an election year. In fact, the fare cut and discount offer on premier trains is actually a sign of reforms as well as of intelligent market manipulation. All this should have been done long ago but it needed cheap air fare and a sharp drop in upper-class revenue for the babus to sit up.
Of course, there will be a price to pay at the end of the year. This year, total revenue increase is only 10 per cent against 34 per cent last year. But Nitish is banking on short public memory. Last year, the budget was a soft one with no passenger fare hike but a cess was levied in June. Do we remember it?
