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| The "flying"Omar is unaware of rail passengers' woes | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 15: Chief Minister,Omar Abdullah,has welcomed the fare hike,which he has described as modest,proposed by the Minister for Railways,Dinesh Trivedi, in his budget which he presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
Explaining the reason for his support to the Railways budget proposal Omar has stated that modest hike in rail fare was genuine if passengers received better facilities and amenities during their travel.If one goes by the railway budget proposals the hike may be modest in the eyes of Omar Abdullah but it is not so as far as passengers are concerned.
If the Parliament accepts Trivedi's proposals passengers travelling between Delhi and Mumbai have to pay Rs.207 and Rs.138 more for AC-II and AC-III,between Delhi and Chennai they have to pay additional Rs.326 and 217 for AC-II and AC-III and between Delhi and Kolkata the passengers have to pay an extra sum of Rs. 217 and 144 for AC-II and AC-III respectively.
For millions of passengers,travelling by trains even the "modest fare hike" may prove cumbersome because already the periodic hike in the prices of petrol,diesel and the air fare has resulted in domestic budgetary aches.
There are two reasons which motivated Omar Abdullah to comment and react on the railway budget when nobody from the media had approached him for his comment and reaction.First reason being his desire to earn the goodwill of the Congress led UPA Government in the centre.
By the time he decided to tweet his comment on the Railway budget the TMC supremo and Chief Minister of West Bengal,Mamata Bnerjee,had conveyed to Prime Minister,Manmohan Singh,her desire to drop Trivedi from the cabinet.Since Trivedi belongs to the TMC Ms Banerjee was within her rights to recommend sacking of her party colleague on charge of Trivedi having flouted her suggestions and instructions.She had also accused Trivedi of having followed the Congress diktat.
And Omar Abdullah cashed on the tiff between the TMC and the Congress by tweeting support to the fare hike proposed in the rail budget.Omar thought that an opportunity had come in his hand and he should utilise it by demonstrating his loyalty to the Congress that was needed for his political survival.
Secondly,Omar Abdullah has had neither any compulsion nor any opportunity to travel by train.During the last three years Omar Abdullah has been travelling by air.As goes the proverb he takes breakfast in Jammu,lunch in Delhi and dinner in Srinagar.And whenever he finds any difficulty in shuttling by regular passenger air services between Srinagar and Delhi or between Jammu and Delhi or between Jammu and Srinagar a bit difficult a state Government owned aircraft is pressed into service for carrying Omar Abdullah from Jammu to Srinagar and from Srinagar to Delhi.
This way the Kashmir Chief Minister has no knowledge about the impact of a "modest fare hike" can have on passengers and commuters in the country.Even if he loses power, say after about 50 years,he may not have the need for travelling by train because by that time he would have sufficient resources for travelling by air.
What amazes his tweet readers is his silence on Railway Minister's no to introduction of new train services to Jammu and to the setting up a coach factory in Jammu and Kashmir.Omar,as Chief Minister,should have tweeted against the Minister for Railways for not having sanctioned sufficient funds for laying two more rail tracks between Jammu and Jalandhar.He should have tweeted in support of introducing Shatabadi trains between Delhi and Jammu and between Delhi and Mumbai.
Omar should have tweeted in support of peoples' demand for improving services in the running trains and on the railway stations and platforms in Jammu and Kashmir and between Jammu and the rest of the country.Possibly Omar was not under any such compulsions because he has being to fly. |
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