"It is not enough to
conquer; one must learn to seduce."
—Voltaire (French,
1694-1778)
Word for the day
Calumniate (v)
To make false and malicious
statements about; slander.
Malice towards none
Ramayana is perhaps the best
global treatise on complete integration of human life with nature.
The Environmentalist NGOs
and Secular Governments do not propagate it just because a majority of Hindus
venerate it.
First random thought this morning
Remember the 1995 Hollywood hit "The American
President".
The emotive and powerful speech of our HRD Minister Ms. Smriti
Irani on JNU issue in the Parliament was distinctly reminiscent of the
rhetorical climax of the film; especially the dialogue - "This is a
time for serious people, Bob, and your fifteen minutes are up. My name is
Andrew Shepherd, and I *am* the President."
I am highly impressed. My Whatsapp inbox indicates that the speech
has also thrilled the a lot of people, including the prime minister.
But today is a new day. Tell me what's on the menu for the day?
Indian Rail on right track
What Suresh Prabhu did not say in his speech:
(a) Both the passenger and freight tariffs may be made
dynamic and adjusted several times every year.
(b) Railways might go the airlines way in tariff
structuring. Be ready for limited baggage allowance; no berth for half ticket;
extra charge for bedding etc.
(c) The 5% growth in passenger and freight tariff
juxtaposed to much higher growth in air traffic and CV sales suggests that
business has moved from railways to road and air. So market should not get too
excited about the higher CV sales and air traffic growth numbers.
For long I have been a member of the school which believes that
the government should do away with the colonial practice of presenting a
separate Rail Budget in the parliament.
There could be an intense debate over whether the Indian Railway
should be corporatized on the lines of Telecom (BSNL and MTNL), Civil Aviation
(Air India), Shipping (SCI) and Roadways (NHAI and SRTCs) or it should continue
to be managed as a government department like Defence and Space Research
(ISRO). However, the argument for presenting a separate Rail Budget look
unconvincing and rather pertinacious, in my view.
Being a votary of abolition of the exercise itself, I have not
been pre-marking 25th February in my annual calendar. The date has been a
regular day for me, usually away from television.
This year however, given the poor state of financial markets, like
everyone, I have also been looking towards the government with a certain degree
of anticipation. So I heard the Rail Budget speech in full to find out some
glimmers of hope. Honestly speaking, I am delighted and reasonably satisfied.
Many users will concur with me, that despite serious improvements
in past decade, arguably, Indian Railways continues to be one of the most
corrupt and inefficient institutions in the country. I would like to evaluate
the Rail Budget in this background rather than getting bogged down by the
tedious numbers and jargon.
I find that the minister is determined to transform the behemoth
into an efficient, transparent, and service oriented institution; and he is
moving rather swiftly to achieve the goals. For example consider the following:
(a) Besides bringing better
and transparent accounting practices in Indian Railways, the minister has also
considered new avenues for raising revenue, e.g., sale of non-core assets,
revenue for allied service (advertisement, consumer services etc.) overseas
borrowing etc.
(b) Serious attempts are
being made to make Indian Rail competitive in terms services. Besides several
initiatives to enhance passengers' travel experience, the minister has also
announced some time table freight trains.
(c) The rising emphasis on
use of latest technology is quite evident.
(d) Decentralization is
progressing well through PPP model for rail infrastructure development,
engagement of state governments in new projects, material delegation in
procurement processes etc.
(e) Significant focus is
being put on improving operating efficiency, e.g., by augmenting capacities in
existing trains by increasing number of births, introducing double-decker
trains; use of solar energy; integration with other modes of transports and
supply chain.
No comments:
Post a Comment