Claims ‘bogus’, rail hike imminent: Opposition

The Opposition claimed that the passenger fare hike is imminent, while slamming the Rail Budget for “bogus claims”. The Lok Sabha discussed the Rail Budget during which the Congress and the Trinamul Congress launched an attack on the government while the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) expressed support.

Congress MP K.C. Venugopal, while initiating discussion on the Rail Budget in the Lok Sabha, alleged that the government did not resort to hike in passenger fares because of the “compulsion” of Assembly polls in five states in the coming days. He claimed that the Railway Board is fully supportive of the idea to hike passenger fares to mobilise additional resources.

“There is no proposal to hike passenger fares and freight charges in the Budget. But charges on various counts like cancellation and Tatkal charges have been hiked during the year. Such charges were increased six times and the last hike was as recently as in December last,” claimed Mr Venugopal.

The Congress MP wondered how the government will fund the proposed spendings on infrastructure.

“While '1 lakh crore has been set aside for the Mumbai-Ahmedabad bullet train, little has been earmarked for major projects like signalling and quality travel for passengers,” claimed Mr Venugopal.

The Congress MP quoted former Delhi Metro chief E. Sreedharan as saying that nothing has been done on signalling in the railways.

TMC MP Ratna De Nag claimed, while taking part in the discussion, that the Rail Budget presented by railway minister Suresh Prabhu is a copy of the vision document presented by her party chief Mamata Banerjee when she headed the railways.

BJD member Balabhadra Majhi appreciated Mr Prabhu for allocating various projects to Orissa. Shiv Sena MP Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar rued that not much has been done for Mumbai in the Rail Budget.

He sought an inquiry into the working of the Railway Recruitment Board-Mumbai. He alleged that only 30 per cent of Marathis were recruited by it. The Lok Sabha will discuss the Rail Budget on Friday also.