The Hindu : Opinion / Letters to the Editor : Railway budget

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Friday, Jul 09, 2004

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Railway budget

Sir, — Lalu Prasad's budget is high on populism and low on figures. Khullars and khadi are fine as long as potters and weavers get the benefit. The real problem lies in the failure to create jobs and make train journeys safer. The Minister has made no mention of the deficit and how he proposes to balance revenue and expenditure.

J.M. Manchanda,
New Delhi

Sir, — The railway budget is an exercise in status quoism and before long the populist moves will stand exposed.

S. Rajagopalan,
Chennai

Sir, — The Railway Minister has not made much effort to introduce any initiative to bring about the much-needed qualitative improvement in the overall performance of the Railways.

Populism is different from economic reality. It is easy to announce schemes and projects without mentioning the funding part. The Railway Minister should have laid greater stress on resource mobilisation, passenger safety and modernisation rather than on sops.

Pisipati Sriram Prasad,

Hyderabad

Sir, — Mr. Prasad could have introduced differential peak and off season fares, especially for first class and A.C. travel. This would have resulted in better capacity utilisation and higher revenue.

S. Mukund,

Chennai

Sir, — While tackling unemployment is one of the key thrust areas of the National Common Minimum Programme, the biggest government-owned corporation in India offers nothing.

T.V. Suresh,

Coimbatore, T.N

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