Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarification that there was no question of
privatising the Indian Railways
may not have been wholly necessary. But, to dispel a rumour campaign
that it was being privatised, Mr. Modi used the ‘good governance’
platform from his Varanasi constituency to drive
home that message. The
fact remains that the government and the Railways badly need private and
foreign investment in the system. The kind of resources needed to take
up ongoing projects and also launch ambitious ones such as the dedicated
rail corridor and bullet train services, cannot be met by public sector
funding alone. That is why the Prime Minister has been looking to Japan
and China to provide both technological and financial support to some
of these projects. Equally important was the reiteration of the plan to
set up four Railway universities across the country. These will
specifically cater to the needs of the railway system and provide
readily employable candidates in various disciplines. The focus of the
railway universities could be very specific, be it the electrical,
mechanical or signalling fields, to mention a few. It will take some
time for the Railways to do the basic homework, identify the locations
and courses, and complete the formalities to start these institutions,
which could also look at upgrading the skills of existing employees and
providing them opportunities to acquire higher qualifications.
Internally, the Railways is constantly trying to raise more funds and
increase earnings from both freight and passenger fares. But a rather
unpopular move in recent months has been the dynamic pricing of fares
and the premium-rate Tatkal tickets. In October, the Railways unveiled
premium Tatkal ticketing, under which 50 per cent of the tickets going
through the travel-eve Tatkal window was brought into a dynamic pricing
package. While 10 per cent of tickets in the ordinary second class come
under Tatkal, up to 30 per cent in the sleeper and higher classes are
brought under it. Only e-ticketing is allowed, agents cannot book these
tickets, and individual identity document numbers have to be provided
online and produced during travel. About 80 popular trains were brought
under this scheme. What is more, for the holiday season now, the
Railways have introduced special premium trains based on the dynamic
pricing policy. The chief problem with the premium scheme is that it
keeps the ordinary passenger who books tickets at the railway counter,
out of the system: those without Internet access cannot utilise this
option. Notably, in its first Railway budget, the BJP-led NDA government
raised passenger fares by 14.2 per cent across the board. Even last
year, without the dynamic fares, the Railways earned about Rs.1,000
crore through the Tatkal scheme.
