The controversy about the increase in the railway tariff hike presented by former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi resulted in his removal by the Trinamool Congress and a new Railway Minister Mukul Roy has been appointed. This is clearly a drama created by Trinamool Supremo Mamata. More than this drama, there are serious issues involved in the new Railway Budget. One, of course is the increase in rail tariff, especially in the sleeper and lower classes which are mainly used by the common people. If the new tariffs are analysed in detail, one can see that there is a huge 30% or so increase in the categories mentioned above, while in the A/C and higher classes the increase only between 13% to 20%. Tax the poor and save the rich seems to be the motto of the government.

But more serious issue is the proposal to privatise the Railway services, the largest services in the country. During the last few years, the government has been appointing Committees after committees to reorganise and improve the Railways. These include the Kakodar and Pitroda Committees. Of course Manmohan Singh and Ahluwalia are there to guide and advise what should be in the report of the committee. And hence the present Railway budget proposals are a clever manouvoure for privatisation.

The present Railway Budget is nothing short of a disaster for the country. It should be opposed and defeated.