NEW DELHI: Pawan Bansal induction in the railway ministry last year was attributed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Fed up with a hemorrhage of railway finances under successive regional chieftains that dominated the crucial infrastructure ministry, the prime minister was interested in bringing someone else in the league with his reformist instincts.
Rail Budget on Tuesday, marked by a focus on restoring fiscal discipline after years of rampant waste, shows that Bansal has met expectations. Although discreet, some proposals are so important that insight can be excused if they think that these were written by the same PM.
Points out the raid Congressional leadership harsh economic reality that has tight space for alms, to the extent that the prime minister and the finance minister today are on the same page. It offers a preview of what could be in store on Thursday when P Chidambaram presents budget.
The presentation austere stark contrast to the populist grandstanding under predecessors Bansal, Mamata Banerjee and Lalu Prasad, focusing more on consolidation. Bansal said right from the beginning that the carrier was unable to improve public services users, security and efficiency, as their predecessors were not concerned about the financial sustainability. There is a reference to social responsibility, but only as part of the broader argument to ensure the financial stability of the organization.
Except for projects developed from the point of view of national security, Bansal said frankly that funds would be available only to those projects that are commercially viable. In short, it puts a question mark on the fate of the plans launched for political reasons and is justified by social obligations. "The thin spread of scarce resources can be overcome only in this way,'' said the minister.
He refrained from hiking passenger fares, but that does not push the budget reform. Having recently raised rates, Bansal had headroom to show their concern for travelers. However, a considerable amount clean proposed rate increase in services. More importantly, made a pitch for a 5.6% annual increase in rates. Read along with the bold defense to align the rates with fuel prices, this is far from the days when passengers asked to pay more was anathema.
While inspiration can come from the PM, Bansal was helped by the fact that, being the representative of the Union Territory of Chandigarh, was not hampered by the need to satisfy a large electorate. As a result, although it is expected that the protests against the failure of the claims, there was no jealousy toward the region of Bihar and Bengal under Lalu and Mamata evoked.
Bansal emphasized that the railways will close the current fiscal surplus and the operating ratio is expected to improve from 87.88%. The proposals that seemed designed to help achieve the objective of restoring the financial viability of the railways and, if implemented, may mark an important step towards the paradigm shift that talks on the budget.
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