In the name of fiscal discipline, will the railway drop
concessional travel passes, which wil be depend on the outcome of
committee report on Saturday.
Railways may drop concessional travel passes
New Delhi, December 18, 2014
Aiming to bring in fiscal discipline, the railways are exploring
possibilities of cutting revenue losses that come by way of providing free
or concessional
travel. Over the last five years, India's public transporter has incurred a
loss of approximately rs 5,000 crore towards providing
for free or concessional travel to a total of 53 categories of persons
that includes disabled, senior citizens, sportsmen, students, media persons
and medical professionals.
The revenue loss on account of free/concessional travel in the last fiscal
is estimated at rs 1,300 crore.
"Kick-starting big and long pending projects has been the focus of our
committee, although we have looked at various small measures that affect the
rail
economy adversely", said a member of the DK Mittal-headed high level
committee that was recently set up by railways minister Suresh Prabhu to
suggest ways
to improve the organisation's
financial
health.
The nine-member committee is scheduled to submit its report on Saturday.
Sources said the task of pruning of the list of free/concessional travelers
was unlikely to be taken up in a hurry because of the political
repercussions
that such an exercise will entail. "The exercise is still relevant, as we
need to have a scientific estimation of the 'social responsibility costs'
borne
by the railways", officials said.
Former Railway Board member RC Acharya regarded the matter as a "non-issue",
saying that addressing the freight versus passenger tariff distortions would
be more relevant towards cutting revenue losses. Rail expert Raghu Dayal,
however, said that the public transporter had "stretched its social
responsibilities
far too long and far too much" and that it was time for the railways to do
some course correction.
Source : http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/Print/1297714.aspx?s=p
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