The only Railway Budget meeting that Lalu Prasad has taken so far was on January 18-19 at 1, Anne Marg in Patna, the official residence of his wife, Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi.

Prasad's brief to his officers was simple: don't make any drastic changes in passenger fares and cargo haulage rates.

Beyond this one-liner, Prasad has been non-existent from the entire Budget-making process. The reason is obvious: his preoccupation with the Bihar elections, which is crucial for his political survival. "He has to first defend his garh (fortress)," say his supporters.

Railway officials say that the minister has been ill tempered of late, especially after failing to strike an alliance with the Congress in the state.

But they are happy to be left alone. Any file sent to the minister gets a standard treatment of anumodit (approved) niyamanusar (according to rules)", which is music to a bureaucrat's ear.

"This means that there are no complex notes, no manipulation as the minister has other more important things on his mind," says one railway official.

Says a senior officer: "There will just be general announcements of measures taken to increase the freight load, some old funds and programmes on railway safety are going to be dusted and placed before Parliament, maybe a new train or two is going to be announced."

The Railway Budget exercise begins from August in what is called the phase-wise programme. In this all railway departments send their wishlist of expenditure to the railway's finance commissioner, who collates and arrives at the size of the Budget.

Next comes the member traffic of the railway board, who also gives an estimate of revenue. All this is being done as usual but the minister, who is supposed to provide direction and vision to the exercise, is missing.