NEW DELHI: The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), on Thursday sought to know from the Government as to how the Indian Railways earned a whopping profit of Rs. 20,000 crore despite fall in passenger traffic by nearly seven per cent.

Participating in the debate on the Railway Budget in Lok Sabha, the CPI(M) also opposed attempts to privatise the Railways.

Initiating the discussion, Thawar Singh Gehlot (BJP) said the profit has been generated from `Tatkal' and super fast charges and not from increase in passenger traffic. "The Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad, should explain whether the profit has been earned from passenger fares or freight," he said.

Mr. Gehlot alleged that Mr. Prasad had discriminated against certain States by not announcing new rail lines. He said States such as Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh have been badly neglected in the budget. Stating that passengers no longer feel secure in trains, he said about 10,000 posts of Railway Protection Force (RPF) are still lying vacant without any visible action to fill them up.

Taking part in the debate, Anil Basu of the CPI(M) wondered how Mr. Prasad could claim that the Railways had earned a 14 per cent profit when statistics reveal that the passenger traffic has increased by only seven per cent. He stoutly opposed the Private Public Partnership concept and said outsourcing and privatisation of services would create unrest among the employees.

Mr. Basu said the outsourcing of services would render catering and container units unviable. Referring to the closure of the railway printing press at Byculla, Mr. Basu said the new commodity-based traffic concept would hit medium scale steel utilities hard, as they would find the freight costlier.

L. Rajagopal of the Congress complimented Mr. Prasad for presenting an outstanding budget that had given dignity to every passenger cutting across the length and breadth of the country. Mr. Rajagopal said the Railways had performed exceptionally well during the last three years of UPA rule but the same cannot be said about the performance of the Railways during the NDA Government's regime when they had derailed one of biggest PSUs in the country.

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