Invoked Mamata, echoed Plan panel

He invoked Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee's name as many as nine times in his 38-page rail budget speech. But when it came to important policy-making, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi chose what the Planning Commission and the Prime Minister's Office have been batting for long, something his leader had completely ignored in her last term at railways' helm: reform.

Hiking fares after 10 years, the last such hike happened during Nitish Kumar's term in 2002, Trivedi surprised many, given his party chief's position on the issue.

But the two critical announcements made by the Railways Minister — the consideration of an independent Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority and the contemplation of a "Fuel Adjustment Component" in passenger services — were major reforms that both the Planning Commission and PMO have been asking successive Railways ministers to mull.

If set up at all, the RTRA would essentially deal with fare fixation, both passenger and freight, while the introduction of FAC would mean fare increase or decrease automatically in line with the fuel costs. For the past couple of years, Rail Bhavan has been asked to consider both measures to pull itself out of the financial quagmire it now finds itself in. Each time these measures were proposed, they ran into political walls called Mamata Banerjee and Lalu Prasad.

While Trivedi played it safe by only talking about considering these proposals for the time being, he at least displayed some bravado in including them in the budget document, knowing fully well that they could never find favour with his party leader.

"There has been a demand from several quarters for setting up of an independent Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority that will suggest the level of tariffs both for freight and fares. However, I feel this is an important area and needs a serious debate. The pros and cons of the decision are required to be considered carefully. There is no exclusive body to advise whether an independent regulatory body is desirable," he told Parliament on Wednesday, adding that he was appointing a body of experts to this.

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