Stand-up comic up to no good

For all his verbal jugglery, funny man, Laloo really has nothing much to show for his performance. We now learn his much praised tenure as the rail minister was nothing but a fraud. Much like all of the UPA's "social justice" policies, Laloo's claim of having earned crores in profits for the railways is a sham. Here's what Mamta said in the Lok Sabha on Thursday -

“Some people have spoken about a profit of Rs 90,000 crore.
But one can just not talk about the income and skip the expenditure part. After
spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the Sixth Pay Commission award for two
years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs 8,361 crore. This balance is
after taking the entire last five years into account,” Mamata Banerjee revealed
while replaying to the debate on Railway Budget for 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha on
Thursday. [Link]

Here's a summary -

What Mamata exposed
One cannot just talk about income
and skip expenditure part
After spending Rs 28,200 crore on account of the
Sixth Pay Commission for two years, we are left with a cash surplus of just Rs
8,361 crore against much-hyped Lalu claim of Rs 90,000 cr of profit
This
balance is after taking the last five years into account
We are not here to
build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure
Ministers may
come and go but the institution remains
We want a railway that is for
everyone and not for someone special
Reiterates her commitment to come out
with a white paper [Link]

Strangely, when faced with this damning revelation, he didn't seem to have much to say except put up a funny face.

A shell-shocked Lalu Prasad was left
speechless as Mamata seemed well-prepared and armed with every fact and figure
to supplement her claims. Lalu remained a mute spectator as the Bengal tigress
went on demolishing the myth he had created in all these years. “We are not here
to build up balances of the Ministry but to create infrastructure. Ministers may
come and go, but the institution remains. We want a Railway that is for everyone
and not for someone special,” Mamata said. [Link]

Yeah, and all this right under the nose of an "honest liberal economist".

Laloo pulled a fast one on the nation

The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India has exploded the "Laloo-Railways success story" myth. This blog had its reservations and they have been proved true now with the CAG report on the Indian Railways. Laloo was upto to his old tricks of fooling the people like he did in Bihar, except the CAG (which always does a remarkable job) exposed the real reasons.

A politician who made his fortune by robbing fodder off bovines has chronic moral issues. His tenure as Bihar's chief minister saw the state's progress dip continually southwards. And since losing his hold over Bihar he went all hyper in appeasing the Muslims, holding rallies with Osama lookalikes, completely belying all responsibilities of a politician, supporting SIMI, trying to seek moral sanction to it's actions with dubious arguments, declaring Muslim youth charged of terrorism as innocents before the law had even taken its course. His act as a stand-up comic during the trust vote debate was completely bereft of any serious argument or contribution to the discussion. He took liberal digs at serious politicians who hold the parliament in extremely high regard. With a legacy like that, it would be a miracle if Laloo actually did any good to the nation.

How does the railway make more money?

The Indian Railways are making money. Thanks to Laloo(?). There have been suggestions on other blogs that letting executives in the railways do their work has resulted in the turn around. Perhaps Laloo did just that, stayed away without meddling much.

But, there have been some very interesting changes, not discussed in the media that may have resulted in increased revenues. I came across these on various other blogs, but I do not have all the links now.

The railways introduced a ‘cut’ when canceling waitlisted tickets. What was the rationale behind this, I do not know, but it has allowed the railways to collect more money that way. This helps apart from overloading the coaches with the waitlisted passengers traveling sleeping on the floors or standing by the doors. Besides, short distance travelers often buy a general coach ticket & travel in sleeper class (‘kindly adjust’, is their request).

The number of tatkal berths, per coach, have been increased. They now account for a third of the number of berths in a coach. And you have to pay fare for the journey of the train, not your destinations. This definitely is a big increase in revenue.

Increase in freight charge allows for more inflow of money. Road transport costs are increasing & the railways are a good alternative.

And let’s not forget, Indian Railways is a monopoly, so we haven’t much choice, but to pay the prescribed fare, whatever it is. However, passenger fares have been reduced. Amidst all these changes, what has not changed is the quality of coaches & stations. This continues to be the same. All the latest efforts to bring technology to railways are appreciable, but, safe, clean & peaceful journey should be the priority. If you are traveling by sleeper class, there’s just no escape from the various hawkers, eunuchs, beggers, shoe polishers, tea/coffee vendors, magazine sellers etc. Peaceful, undisturbed journey is impossible.

It is indeed appreciable that the railways have become profitable putting less burden on the govt. treasury. But, some blogs suggest looking at accounting practices followed in reporting the rail revenues. Let the passenger decide if the railways have improved.