Opposition in Rajya Sabha today accused the government of raising rail fares through the "backdoor", making the railways sick as it was being driven by loans and said the largest transporter needed a major surgery.
Initiating the debate on the Railway Budget, Congress leader Ahmed Patel said while expenditure is high and the revenue less, "most of it is driven by loans. In the years to come, the loans will get accumulated if you follow the Gujarat model of development."
He accused the government of "using the back door" to increase price of tickets. "You now have premium Tatkal and Tatkal. Why are you using a back door to raise prices? Why don't you increase price through the budget itself?"
"Railways is bimaru", the budget is "sick" and the department needed a "big surgical operation", he said, adding while the Minister is good, the Railway is not doing good.
Patel said if the government failed to pay attention to the real issues plaguing the sector and tries to copy models from outside, it will turn a fiasco. "It makes me wonder whether it is the Minister who is running the Ministry or the PMO," he said.
He also quoted Warren Buffet to say "when you shop for something you don't need, you will end selling things you need" and said it is time the government paid attention to real issues.
On passenger safety and comfort, Patel wondered why crimes on railways was increasing and demanded that the government should consider a bill on vendors brought by the UPA government earlier.
Taking a jibe at the government, the Congress leader said that two years have elapsed since the bullet train was announced but nobody knows its details.
Ram Nath Thakur (JD-U) opposed the budget and sought to know what steps the govenrment was taking to fulfill the announcements made by previous Railway Ministers and fill up a large number of vacancies in the Railways.
Defending the budget, R K Sinha (BJP) said the government was committed to overall reforms in the railways sector and was even acting on tweets of children which was a revolutionary step.
Taking a cue from Patel, Naresh Agarwal (SP) said perhaps railway officers were suffering from paralysis as the practice of checking tracks and other safety measures have been stopped and no DRMs were found inspecting the affairs.
He said there was no coordination among RPF, GRP and civil police and also stressed the need to enhance the speed of trains.
