Mamata Banerjee's performance as Rail Minister. Trailer of what is to come?

What Mamata Banerjee swore as her priorities while coming to power in 2009:

i. Maximum viability and profitability for the railway.

ii. Maximum passenger comfort.

iii. Adequate and appropriate safety for both crew and passengers.

What Mamata Banerjee manifested after coming to power in 2009:

• Bankruptcy: The railway’s poor financial health is an open secret today. Despite her blames directed towards the pay commission, the last couple year’s figures reveal that Lalu Prasad Yadav’s budget (2007-08) was superior. It presented a surplus of Rs. 25000 crores, which steadily declined to Rs. 17400 crores (2009-10); followed by Rs.1328 crores (2009-10) and finally, to a deficit of Rs.4000 crore (2010-11). This is not assisting the Nation’s economy, as the railway is supposed to. The union government subsidized the railway to stabilize the situation, but also granted Mamata Banerjee Rs.20000 crores, which is half the amount (Rs.40000 crore) she asked for.

Should we see this as the UPA government granting an inefficient person another chance at the expense of people’s money?

• Decline in operating ratio: Operating ratio is defined as the amount spent to generate every 100 rupees. Lalu Prasad brought it down to Rs. 75; as of now, according to Ms. Mamata Banerjee, it stands at Rs 95. This is the highest amount ever recorded in the history of the Indian railways.
• Unpaid bills: The bills generated in the last financial year had been carried over to the next year, a trick that imposes a false sense of satisfaction of keeping operational cost within Rs.100. Indian Express’ estimates the operating ratio around 115 for 6 railway zones, while the other 10 imposes not a single speck of doubt regarding the operating ratio surpassing Rs.100.
• Lack of railway safety, amenities & facilities: From starting behind the schedule to passenger securities, Indian railways today bear a declining status in the public eye. The first half of February 2011 shows 700 trains of the South-eastern railway running later than the scheduled arrival and departure time; the lack of cleanliness, proper hygiene and food has added to the sufferings of the common people. And we still didn’t speak about the number of unauthorized travelers in the reserved compartments; of male passengers traveling in coaches strictly reserved for the ladies and the passive role of the Railway Police Force in reinforcing safety and security standards.
• Safety and Security: The last two years witnessed the 574 deaths in a total of 250 railway accidents, a figure that surpasses any such railway calamities so in the Lalu Prasad regime. That bigger damages avoided is solely the credit of the drivers, who could make it because of a good fortune. Although Mamata Banerjee claimed such incidences to be sabotages (e.g. Sainthia), but such cases are not similar to the Gnaneswari Express derailment incident, for which, the Maoists were responsible. However, Mamata Banerjee’s sympathy for the Maoists has increased since then and her blame goes towards the Leftists. Her joint rally at Lalgarh with the People’s Committee against Police Atrocity (the organization, according to the judiciary, is a frontal organization of the Maoists) showcased a scot-free. Ashit Mahato, the chief accused in the Gnaneswari Express massacre. It is the general callousness and the laid-back attitude that costed more than 500 lives. And using the same trains for multiple routes is adding further risks to general safety of passengers, the practice depriving the vehicles of their required maintenance. One such example is the Agnibina Express; it starts from Howrah at 18.20, reaches Asansol at night and returns to Howrah in the morning, only to start for Bolpur (as Shaantiniketan Express; 10 AM) and back in the afternoon. From here onwards, it continues as Agnibina Express again in the evening. Overusing machineries without proper maintenance schedules is a direct call to accidents; the same applies for the metro railway, if we take out from this discussion the metro stations as the hotspots for them with suicidal tendencies.
• Existence of Vacant posts: It is since 2009 that 90 thousand vacant posts (those related to safety and security of the railways) are deliberately been ignored due to an ideological paradigm of the Ministry of Railways tuned with the neo-liberalism of the union government, while the number of trains increased massively (from 13 lakhs to 16 lakhs; 1991 onwards). The situation has been tried covering up through an over-usage of skilled man power (some have worked for even 48 hours at a stretch), which proved all the more detrimental towards overall safety and security of the railways.

Does this justify the claims of Mamata Banerjee regarding creating a million jobs in 2 years?

Others:

• Promises for laying down new tracks: Flopped because her policy backfired; new train tracks require an eviction of land owners, who must be compensated and rehabilitated accordingly. Can this be expected from a person unable to fill up even the regular vacancies in her ministry and only been able to construct 59 kms of rail tracks as opposed to the promised 1000 kms?
• Are Promises meant to be broken: What does Shalimar Automobile Hub, Kanchrapara EMU Coach Factory, Kishan Vision Project at Singur, Railway Excel Factory at Jalpaiguri, Dankuni Industry for Manufacturing of Petrol and Diesel Components, Noapara Metro Rail Coach Factory, Purulia Anara Factory and Adra Power Project speaks of? None progressed beyond laying the foundation stone. None received approval either from the Planning Commission or from private undertakings supposed to form a joint collaboration with the railways. This brings forth a question on the practicality and substantiality of the projects.

The outcome of Mamata ruling the state of WB

It’s surely a never before ridiculous and retrogressive period for the Indian railways borne out of whimsical brainwaves. Mamata Banerjee’s target is becoming the CM for Bengal, a dream that made her ignore the Rail Bhavan for the greater part of her tenure as the Railway minister and make it run at a deficit of an additional Rs11 lakh per month; this is the cost of transport for the files from Delhi to Kolkata and back. According to Nitish Sengupta (former MP, TMC), nothing less than 40 years will allow to implement the budgetary allocations, a time by which – “We would all be dead” (quoted by John Maynard Keynes; English economist who advocated the use of government monetary and fiscal policy to maintain full employment without inflation).