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| Mamata likely to present deficit rail budget | | | Agencies
New Delhi June 30
The impact of fare cuts, the unavoidable hike in wage bill, slower revenue growth and the freebies she has been promising will likely force a deficit budget from Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday, some senior officials said.
According to sources, it is expected that the fare cuts announced by former railway minister Lalu Prasad and the impact of the Sixth Pay Commission may together result in an annualised loss of Rs.17,000 crore.
Along with that, if Banerjee decides to implement schemes like discounted passes for students and the elderly, along with improved quality of food for passengers and other amenities without fare hikes, the fiscal impact could be severe, they added.
Banerjee has already said she will overhaul the existing "Tatkal" (instant ticket) scheme and the tour packages of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp and improve the food quality and passengers amenities without hurting the average passenger.
"Our aim is not just to generate surplus but also to take care of facilities and amenities to the masses," Banerjee had said during her first interaction with the media after taking office. "There is a sharp degradation in the facilities given to the passengers with bad food quality, dirty trains and toilets and lack of drinking water and even the basic cleanliness at platforms," she had stated and had assured to bring a change.
‘My target is to continue to make railways a profitable venture but not at the cost of passenger amenities," she had said..
It is to mention that during the presentation of interim budget on Feb 13, former railway minister Lalu Prasad announced fare cuts of two percent and introduced 43 new routes and the plans of railways to invest Rs.35,900 crore in 2009. He had said budgetary support to the railways had declined from 53 percent to 29 percent since 2004 and it was investing over Rs.20,000 crore out of its internal resources to fund its projects.
The interim budget also had projected cash surplus of Rs.19,320 crore for 2008-09 and Rs.18,847 crore this fiscal while projection of gross traffic receipts for 2009-10 was at Rs.93,159 crore for the year 2009-10.
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