Lalu blames delay on airline

While the Indian trains are zooming ahead, the airline services are lagging behind, was the explanation given by Union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav for his late arrival due to flight delay at the 52 Railway Week celebrations here on Monday.

Congratulating the staff for the impressive performance by the Indian Railways in the last couple of years, the minister said by rising to the occasion, the railways had helped Indian economy to reap considerable benefits from globalisation.

"Experts sitting in Delhi used to suggest downsizing of workforce in railways and privatisation. Retrench people to turn them into naxalites? But we had turned around the railways by improving the infrastructure and business not resorting to through people out of jobs," he told the cheering railway staff while explaining how the UPA government made a difference in the lives of Indian railway employees by ending the days of job insecurity.

The minister listed out various steps being taken up by his ministry to make Indian Railways even more strong and efficient, including the proposed reduction of weight of wagons and locomotives.

He asked the general managers of various zones across the country to speed up the work on improving infrastructure while taking advantage of the ministry's decision to enhance the expenditure limit from divisional manager level so as not to wait for approvals to undertake even small works.