FRONT PAGE | Friday, July 10, 2009 | Email | Print | 
Mamata derails Lalu’s gravy train
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
The Manmohan Singh Government has virtually admitted that “profits” of the Indian Railways during Lalu Prasad’s regime were inflated. Mamata Banerjee, who replaced Lalu as the Railway Minister in UPA-II, informed Parliament on Thursday that the Railways had a cash surplus of Rs 8,361 crore against the much-hyped profit claim of Rs 90,000 crore.
“Some people have spoken about a profit of Rs 90,000 crore. But one can just not talk about the income and skip the expenditure part. After spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award for two years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore. This balance is after taking the entire last five years into account,” Mamata Banerjee revealed while replaying to the debate on Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
A shell-shocked Lalu Prasad was left speechless as Mamata seemed well-prepared and armed with every fact and figure to supplement her claims. Lalu remained a mute spectator as the Bengal tigress went on demolishing the myth he had created in all these years. “We are not here to build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure. Ministers may come and go, but the institution remains. We want a Railway that is for everyone and not for someone special,” Mamata said.
The Railway Minister reiterated her commitment to come out with a white paper on the organisational and financial status of Indian Railways based on its last five years’ performance and a vision-2020 to draw short-term and long-term strategies to tone up its functioning.
She clarified that the exercise was not to target “any individual” but only to reflect upon the past and current state of affairs of the Railways and chalking out the roadmap for future. Also, Mamata did not forget to point out to BJP leaders that her predecessors like George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar too came out with a similar document when they were the respective heads of the department during NDA’s regime.
Mamata, however, did not give any time-frame despite BJP leader Ananth Kumar’s insistence that the white paper be unveiled on the first day of the Winter Session. She said the timing would depend on internal and external audits.
The Railway Minister denied that there was any proposal to corporatise the Indian Railways or sell its immovable assets to raise money for creating world-class infrastructure at railway stations. “We have decided to set up a committee under FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra to prepare a business plan for toning up the Railways. We will follow the PPP model, but that does not mean Railways will sell its land,” Mamata clarified.
The Railway Minister pointed out that senior officials in railway zones and divisions had been assigned to take care of passenger amenities and punctuality of trains. She announced a major policy shift on catering and promised to provide cheaper janata khana on railway stations. More stations were also included in the category of world-class stations and concessions were announced for artists and recipients of Indian Police Service medals.
What Mamata exposed
One cannot just talk about income and skip expenditure part
After spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission for two years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore against much-hyped Lalu claim of Rs 90,000 cr of profit
This balance is after taking the last five years into account
We are not here to build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure
Ministers may come and go but the institution remains
We want a railway that is for everyone and not for someone special
Reiterates her commitment to come out with a white paper
What Lalu claimed
The Manmohan Singh Government has virtually admitted that “profits” of the Indian Railways during Lalu Prasad’s regime were inflated. Mamata Banerjee, who replaced Lalu as the Railway Minister in UPA-II, informed Parliament on Thursday that the Railways had a cash surplus of Rs 8,361 crore against the much-hyped profit claim of Rs 90,000 crore.
“Some people have spoken about a profit of Rs 90,000 crore. But one can just not talk about the income and skip the expenditure part. After spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award for two years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore. This balance is after taking the entire last five years into account,” Mamata Banerjee revealed while replaying to the debate on Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.
A shell-shocked Lalu Prasad was left speechless as Mamata seemed well-prepared and armed with every fact and figure to supplement her claims. Lalu remained a mute spectator as the Bengal tigress went on demolishing the myth he had created in all these years. “We are not here to build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure. Ministers may come and go, but the institution remains. We want a Railway that is for everyone and not for someone special,” Mamata said.
The Railway Minister reiterated her commitment to come out with a white paper on the organisational and financial status of Indian Railways based on its last five years’ performance and a vision-2020 to draw short-term and long-term strategies to tone up its functioning.
She clarified that the exercise was not to target “any individual” but only to reflect upon the past and current state of affairs of the Railways and chalking out the roadmap for future. Also, Mamata did not forget to point out to BJP leaders that her predecessors like George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar too came out with a similar document when they were the respective heads of the department during NDA’s regime.
Mamata, however, did not give any time-frame despite BJP leader Ananth Kumar’s insistence that the white paper be unveiled on the first day of the Winter Session. She said the timing would depend on internal and external audits.
The Railway Minister denied that there was any proposal to corporatise the Indian Railways or sell its immovable assets to raise money for creating world-class infrastructure at railway stations. “We have decided to set up a committee under FICCI secretary general Amit Mitra to prepare a business plan for toning up the Railways. We will follow the PPP model, but that does not mean Railways will sell its land,” Mamata clarified.
The Railway Minister pointed out that senior officials in railway zones and divisions had been assigned to take care of passenger amenities and punctuality of trains. She announced a major policy shift on catering and promised to provide cheaper janata khana on railway stations. More stations were also included in the category of world-class stations and concessions were announced for artists and recipients of Indian Police Service medals.
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