Rollback Railway Fare Hike!

Close on the heels of introducing many of the neo-liberal reforms plus the fuel price hike in the last few months, comes the sudden hike in passenger fares by up to 20% in the state owned Indian Railways. The hike was in the offing ever since the infamous incident involving the former Trinamool Congress Railways Minister – Dinesh Trivedi hiking the fares during the railway budget last year much to the anger of the Trinamool Congress chief – Mamata Banerjee. The government had to retract the hike in second class{{1}} fares following threats to its stability, eventually leading to Trivedi’s loss of his railways portfolio.

Now with unpredictable Mamata Banerjee and her party no longer part of the Congress led UPA government, the government had a free hand in hiking the fares. But what was surprising to many was the timing of the hike that comes two months ahead of the railway budget when any changes with regard to fares are usually announced. The hike was probably introduced now so as to avoid unpleasant confrontation in parliament during the budget session leading to the usual paralysis in parliamentary functioning. The Congress’s staunchly neo-liberal Finance Minister P Chidambaram has called the move “sound economic decision”, while the the industry body like ASSOCHAM{{2}} and CII{{3}} have predictably welcomed the move.

According to the railway minister – Pawan Kumar Bansal, in 2010-11 the railways lost nearly 20,000 crores and this year, the losses could amount to Rs. 25,000 crores. He said that the hike in fares could yield the railways over Rs. 6600 crores in the next one year. While the government may be right in pointing out the dire straits of the railways, but what the government is totally mum about is who is actually responsible for this crisis in the first place.

Railway Subsidy

In India, the government does not directly subsidize the passenger fare, but is indirectly subsidized by the higher freight charge levied on cargo, which the industry has always fretted about footing the final bill. It is not without reason the railway minister has been extremely non committal on increasing the freight charge which would have otherwise incurred the wrath of the industry, which is also dependent upon railways for transport and may have even threatened to use other means of transportation for their goods.

While it is important to maintain the passenger fare subsidy by levying higher charges on the corporations, however it is equally more urgent for the government to step in to increase spending to improve the age old railway infrastructure and also subsidize the passenger fare in turn. However the government is coming up with this ridiculous notion that not increasing the passenger fare for the last ten years is hurting the railways badly.

Then where will the money for these services, which the government claims it simply does not have, come from? The more appropriate question should be, where is the existing money allocated to different sectors during every budget session actually going and who is raking up all the benefits? Each year the government subsidizes the Indian corporates to the tune of more than Rs. 500,000 crores (about US $91 -92 billion) plus another Rs. 1,93,407.29 crore{{4}} (US$ 40.44 billion{{5}}) in terms of wasteful defence expenditures that only benefits the defence lobby. It is clear case of the big corporations milking the cow, whereas the the ordinary working people having to put up with substandard or no services at all!

Progressive Taxation & A Fully Publicly Owned Mass Transportation Needed!

The only way the government can increase the overall investment in railways and other much needed infrastructure projects is by way of progressive taxation. Given the neo-liberal agenda of the past 20 years, the government has only been reducing the taxes imposed on the corporation and have ended up by subsidizing them instead. The current model that is being followed in the railways or the PPP{{6}}models followed in other infrastructure projects like roads have only resulted in the working people footing the bill.

The very idea of public transport services like railways and buses need to be profitable in order to be viable is a totally flawed argument. To treat basic services like public transport, education, health as a commodity or product for sale will have disastrous consequences, with the working people ending up paying up for these services over and above what they are already paying up by way of taxes etc.

This is not to mean that the railways have to continue in their current inefficient model or allow for corruption to seep into the system. The railways needs to be modernized, efficient, affordable, corruption free and environmentally friendly. And this can only happen with increased government investment in a fully public owned transport system under the democratic control of the trade unions and the working people.

This is impossible under the current economic model which puts profits first before the people. This government has already proven itself to be nothing more than a lackey of big business and has carried out some of the worst attacks on the basic rights and living standards of the people in recent memory. More such attacks are on their way and it is about time the Central Trade Unions take up these issues in the coming two day general strike in February as a way forward towards building a mass opposition to this government “of the corporation, by the corporation and for the corporation”.

The New Socialist Alternative (CWI-India) demands:

• An immediate roll-back of the fare hike
• Increased expenditure in mass public transportation that is efficient, affordable, and environmentally friendly. Heavy taxes on cars and other private vehicles
• Public transportation to be wholly public owned under the democratic control of the Trade Unions and the working people
• Progressive taxation and remove all subsidies to the corporations.
• For full nationalisation of banks and key industries; for a democratic workers control and management of all the resources.
• For a democratic, secular and socialist society based on real equality and putting the needs of the people before the profits of a few

[[1]] used by most ordinary people [[1]]
[[2]] Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India [[2]]
[[3]] Confederation of Indian Industry[[3]]
[[4]]Figures from last year budget[[4]]
[[5]]According to 2012 Dollar-Rupee exchange rate[[5]]
[[6]] Public–private partnership[[6]]