No takers for Plan panel's common Budget

The Planning Commission has decided to revisit the issue of merging the Railway Budget with the general Budget.

The Plan panel had last month called a meeting of Railways and finance ministry officials to discuss the issue. But the chances of the proposal going through appear bleak not just during the next financial year but also in the near future.

The Railways were against the proposal as the practice of presenting a separate Budget had been there since 1924, and merging it with the general Budget would prove to be too complicated, railway officials said.

"It will be very difficult to incorporate all the elements in the same format, after being merged with the general Budget," an official added.

Moreover, he said, the Railways had a separate finance division headed by a financial commissioner who represented the finance ministry.

"The railway ministry is in constant touch with the finance ministry and will make Budget allocations after consulting the latter," he said.

Finance ministry officials, too, did not appear to be favouring the idea. "It is a departmental undertaking and they can have a separate Budget. Besides, the Railway Budget is reflected in the general Budget," an official in the finance ministry said.

Experts say that merging the two budgets is not an advisable option.