Mamata's tatkal reform: problem or a solution

Though Mamata's railway budget undoubtedly packed a punch, it appears the reforms and schemes will bring their own set of problems for both the people and the railways.

CJ: akanksha singh

Sun, Jul 05, 2009 11:45:31 IST

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Railway Budget 2009-10 :

A FEW DAYS BACK, the railway minister presented the railway budget with a punch. And the punch was directed at former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. Mamata announced many drastic changes which brought smiles to the aam junta. But it appears, these reforms and new schemes which have been ushered in with a lot of zeal and hope, might bring their own set of problems.

In her budget, Mamata Banerjee brought down the number of days for advance booking from five to two and also minimum charges from Rs150 to Rs100. Though this is indeed a major step, it has major drawbacks. Even when the cut-off period for tatkal was as much as five days, a number of people still found themselves on the waiting list or RAC list. Now that the duration for tatkal has been reduced to just two days; it will be unimaginable how much rush there will be for tatkal booking for the same number of seats.

In addition to this, Mamata has decided to bring down the number of tatkal berths to facilitate more seats in the general quota. I think this will further worsen the situation for tatkal bookings. With fewer days for tatkal booking and fewer tatkal berths, the chances of a commuter’s booking being confirmed in tatkal, will be very low. There will be more waiting as they will be limited to fewer tatkal berths. My point is that Mamata has taken some very definite measures in the interests of the general public, however there has been little consideration on the front of tatkal bookings.

No doubt, Mamata intended to provide the ‘aam admi’ touch to her budget. But she seems to have forgotten that even the aam admi makes tatkal bookings. One should keep in mind that since there will now be fewer chances of your tatkal ticket being confirmed, revenue from tatkal booking will fall dramatically. It is well known that the railways needs to generate revenue if it hopes to stay away from losses. But with Mamata Banerjee bringing in a lot of drastic changes, the viability of these reforms needs to be questioned.

We need to throw light on the pros and cons of some very important reforms announced in this rail budget. The impact of the various populist measures announced by Mamata Banerjee in the face of an economic slowdown, has also forced the ministry to compromise on investments that it might have made for future growth and efficiency.

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