Taking a leaf out of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s book, railway minister Suresh Prabhu is likely to unveil “Antyodaya” coaches in all non-premium trains.
Taking a leaf out of former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee’s book, railway minister Suresh Prabhu is likely to unveil “Antyodaya” coaches in all non-premium trains. The Antyodaya Anna Yojna for foodgrains for the poorest of the poor was unveiled by Mr Vajpayee, who drew high praise for its success later. The Antyodaya coaches will have the lowest fare, but offer the comfort of sleeper class travel to the poor.
Late Deen Dayal Upadhyay, the ideological inspiration for many in the BJP and RSS, had devised the philosophy of Antyodaya, advocating upliftment of the poorest of the poor. BJP leaders have apparently convinced Mr Prabhu to unveil special Antyodaya coaches to boost the pro-poor image of the Narendra Modi government, enabling the BJP to counter barbs by the Opposition that it was “pro-corporate”.
“One Antyodaya non-AC coach could be added in each of non-premium trains. The fare will be less than sleeper class,” a senior railway official said.
Some railway officials earlier had reservations about such a scheme, fearing it would lead to a revenue loss. “Trains normally have 24 coaches, and there is little scope to add more coaches given the size of platforms. But the minister insisted it had to be done,” an official said.
The Railways had faced flak after general coaches were reduced in some express trains to introduce more AC coaches.
The last such pro-poor measures in a Railway Budget was adopted by Lalu Prasad Yadav when he was the railway minister in the UPA government by unveling Garib Raths, which are all-AC trains but whose fares are cheaper than other express trains.
Mr Yadav’s successor, Mamata Banerjee, on taking charge at Rail Bhavan, had her signature train rolled out in form of the Duronto Express, whose colour theme she had designed herself.
