Dinesh dumps populism for healthier railways

KOLKATA: Dinesh Trivedi’s budget on Wednesday shook off Mamata Banerjee’s legacy of populism and a Bengal-centric vision to chalk out a recovery path for the ailing Indian Railways.
Unlike Mamata’s “political” budget speeches, there was no mention of the Singur and Nandigram struggles or non-feasible projects like a museum dedicated to Rabindranath Tagore outside Howrah station.Trivedi didn’t use the budget to carve out an alternative growth path for Bengal, like Mamata did on February 25, 2011, before the historic assembly elections and went full throttle to woo voters.
Instead, Trivedi’s crisp and frills-free presentation was business-like, interspersed with couplets that evoked laughter and table-thumping from benches on both sides. His speech never lost sight of the fact that he was in charge of a ministry that was, as he chose to describe it, in the “intensive care unit” and needed immediate attention. For the Trinamool Congress MP from Barrackpore, it was a choice between complex politics and simple economics. He chose the latter. And in doing so, he was in sync with the expert committees headed by Anil Kakodkar and Sam Pitroda that had recommended cash infusion and modernization of railway infrastructure.
“Given the serious constraint of funds even to meet day-to-day operational expenditures, I have the Himalayan task of running the Indian Railways safely,” he said. “I had two very clear yet contrasting options — either to keep the railways in status quo mode with just incremental annual changes or, as the phrase goes, bite the bullet. The second option would involve going for a generational change with focus on safety and inclusive growth to meet the aspirations of this great country in the next decade. I chose the generational change,” he said.
The remarks, made early on in his speech, set the tone for a budget that would focus on improving passenger safety and amenities and the financial health of the railways and quickly dispelled notions that the Trivedi’s budget would simply be an extension of the Trinamool chief’s vision.
With populism in mind more than feasibility, Mamata had announced rail links to places like Nandigram and Furfura Sharief in the Hooghly district. She had also announced that those who would give land for these projects would get railway jobs and compensation. Today, the railways is facing a major crisis with thousands of people demanding jobs. In Bengal, acquisition of land, even for crucial railway projects, has become a problem after an announcement by Mamata as railway minister that no land would be acquired forcibly.
Trivedi, on the contrary, made no such announcements. He went ahead with the proposal for a coach terminal in Dankuni, but said he wanted to use space around major stations like Howrah and Sealdah to earn revenue. The coach terminal was proposed in the 2011-12 budget but little was done towards developing Dankuni into a major passenger terminal, though experts thought it was an ideal location. Trivedi has also proposed a coaching terminal in Naihati, to be named after Rishi Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Naihati is Chattopadhyay’s birthplace and the country will celebrate his 175th birth anniversary in 2013. The minister has also proposed a museum on Bankim at Naihati and a special train that will run across the country to spread his message.
Trivedi also announced that work on Metro projects in Kolkata were progressing satisfactorily. He said the first leg of the Joka-Tollygunge Metro link would be taken up soon. Work on the Metro corridor from Barrackpore to Kalyani is also set to begin. Extension of the Circular Railway network from Remount Road to Santoshpur via Garden Reach, Metiabruz has also been taken up, the minister announced. The pink paper indicated the minister had backed his announcements with adequate funds support.
During her tenure, Mamata had announced a coach factory at Kanchrapara in the public-private-partnership mode. Trivedi made it clear that the railways’ efforts in PPP projects had not been successful and existing marketing schemes would be reviewed to give them greater business focus. The minister’s move indicated his party chief had put the horse before the cart while announcing PPP projects. Trivedi proposed a new post on the Railway Board —a member, marketing/PPP — to take care of such projects.
Trivedi also announced plans for a factory at Shyamnagar, North 24-Parganas, in PPP mode for manufacture of next generation technology propulsion system for use in high power electric locomotive. The electric loco ancillary unit of Chittaranjan Locomotive Works at Dankuni will also assemble 3-phase 9,000 Horse Power locomotives under transfer of technology from Japan, the minister said. The wagon factory at Kulti and flat bogey frame unit at Budge Budge will start production in 2012-13, he added.
One of the most important projects announced by Trivedi — but proposed by Mamata — was one that will reopen the route from Kolkata to Tripura via Bangladesh. This will bring down travel time and distance between Kolkata and the northeast significantly. In an attempt to harness green energy, the railways is also considering the setting up of a 72 MW windmill plant in a wind rich part of Bengal.
Given the rise in the number of commuters, Dinesh Trivedi has proposed the introduction of 50 new Metro services in Kolkata and 44 suburban services under the Eastern and South Eastern Railways.
Full Coverage on Budget 2012: Budget 2012, Rail Budget 2012, Pre Budget 2012, Budget News 2012