'It's possible to please all and make profits'

After presenting the Railway Budget for 2003-04 to Parliament, Railway Minister Nitish Kumar addressed a group of journalists. Pradeep Puri reports:

Has the Railway Budget not proposed any increase in passenger fares and freight because of the drop in traffic?

The thrust of the Railway Budget has been to attract more passenger and goods traffic by continuing the rationalisation of fares and freight.

The current year (2002-03) has seen less passenger and goods traffic because of the cumulative effect of the safety surcharge imposed in 2001-02 and the fare rationalisation this year, which pushed up fares and freight.

However, this will not be the case in 2003-04. The effort is to attract more traffic by providing maximum consumer satisfaction.

This is why we have declared 2003-04 as 'Consumer Satisfaction Year', during which a number of safety-related projects will be taken up. We are also planning to place before Parliament a White Paper on passenger safety this year.

Punctuality of trains is another important issue. For this, we propose to streamline and strengthen the monitoring mechanism. We propose to introduce a new computerised coaching operations information system.

How do you propose to bridge the resource gap in the Railway Budget?

There is no resource gap. During the current year, we are aiming at 515 million tonnes of revenue-earning freight.

For 2003-04, the target for this traffic has been kept at 540 million tonnes. Given the further freight rationalisation and incentives proposed to attract more traffic, it is an achievable target. The revenue from passenger traffic is also expected to grow considerably.

Are you offering special incentives to oil companies because of the falling traffic from this sector?

We have prepared a strategy to attract more traffic from this sector. We are ready to consider long-term agreements with individual oil companies for a further reduction in freight. This will be sector-specific on guaranteed volumes of additional traffic.

Last year, you said there would not be any cross-subsidisation?

Yes, and with this in view, we are planning to introduce reforms in our accounting system so that we know exactly how much of public service obligation the Railways are carrying.

The accounting procedure of the Railways does not project a clear picture about this. Once we have calculated the amount of subsidy going into each category, we will take corrective action. Of course, with regard to accounting reforms, government rules will continue to apply to the Railways.

Are you taking these measures because they are the easiest to implement among the recommendations of the Rakesh Mohan Committee?

I do not agree with you. I think this is the most difficult recommendation of the Rakesh Mohan Committee.

Is it an election Budget?

Where are the elections? We have merely continued with the reforms we had undertaken last year. Nothing has been done with an eye on elections.

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