07-04-2009, 03:48 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>White paper promise leaves Lalu red-faced</b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
<b>Union Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that Indian Railways will come out with a âwhite paperâ on its âorganisational, operational and financial statusâ based on last five yearsâ performance, a move that many believe could spell trouble for Lalu Prasad, whose âturnaround theoryâ has few buyers. </b>
A<b> red-faced Lalu shot back at the Minister saying she suffered from âcomplex</b>â, but Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar believed it would expose Mamataâs predecessor for his jugglery.
âThe white paper will be used for framing a suitable strategy and roadmap for the coming years. We will draw long-term as well as short-term action plans,â Mamata told reporters here on Friday while trying to suggest it was not against any individual.
But the Budget she tabled in Parliament had already caught Lalu on the wrong foot. <b>The Railway Minister pointed out that figures mentioned in the interim budget (which Lalu presented in February) were âunrealisticâ, âunsustainableâ and asking for âmid-course correctionâ. </b>Â <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> She said high targets were not met due to non-utilisation of commercial ventures.
âI have now set more realistic targets for 2009-10 in the main Budget based on the counting trend in the manufacturing trend of recession in the manufacturing sector and exports,â Mamata said.
<b>She reduced the Railwayâs projected receipts by Rs 4,800 crore in the backdrop of its performance shortcomings in 2008-09. Freight loading fell short of the target of 850 million tonnes by 17 million tonnes. Revenues from commercial utilisation of surplus railway lands also did not materialise. âI was surprised to find there was a provision of Rs 3400 crore for resources mobilisation through PPP, of which Rs 3300 crore would just not materialise. This would imply a straight reduction in the annual plan to a level below the actual expenditure in 2008-09,â</b> the Minister pointed out in the Lok Sabha.
Moreover,<b> the net revenue of Indian Railways has been pegged at Rs 8,121.48 crore, down from Rs 10,876.48 crore as presented in the interim Budget</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Also, the investible surplus available with the Railways has been lowered to Rs 8,631.04 crore for 2009-10 compared to Rs 13,532.33 crore projected by the former Railway Minister just over four months ago.
Despite this mid-course correction, Mamata has proposed a higher dividend to the Centre at Rs 5,479.22 crore for the current financial year, up from the interim estimate of Rs 5,304.22 crore.
Faced with some hard facts, Lalu tried to put up a brave face by saying he was not afraid of any white paper on the performance of the Railway Minister. âThe white paper is her (Mamataâs) shortsightedness, I am not afraid of it,â Lalu told reporters within hours after Mamata presented the Budget.
Saying that Mamata could not pay dividend during her previous stint as the Railway Minister, <b>Lalu pointed out that he had nothing to hide when already people from IIM to Harvard have come to study the Indian Railways turnaround </b>story. âThere was least dependence on the Central Government or the market (when I was the Minister),â he claimed. Lalu also used the opportunity to display dissatisfaction on Mamata not involving Bihar in rail lines and expressed the apprehension that rail projects in Bihar might be closed by the Ministry.
But Mamata found a friend in Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a former Railway Minister and predecessor of Lalu, who believed that the white paper would âexposeâ his arch rival. âThe decline shown in the cash surplus and increase in the operating ratio from 70 to 92.5 per cent proposed for the current fiscal will bring to light the facts relating to the Railways earning profits,â Kumar said.
Kumar has been going hammer and tongs at the RJD strongmanâs performance as the Railway Minister during the UPA Governmentâs first term when he demanded a probe into the alleged jugglery of figures in profits between 2004 and 2009.
In another veiled attack on Lalu, Nitish appreciated Mamata for scaling down targets of Railways and making only such promises that were possible to implement within a time-frame. âIt is a clear departure from Lalu Prasadâs budgetary speeches, which remained a bundle of promises and much beyond the targets possible to achieve,â he said.
When Mamata was presenting the Budget, there was some exchange of words between her and Lalu. Later, the Railway Minister said she had respect for her predecessor and there was no issue between them.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
<b>Union Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday announced that Indian Railways will come out with a âwhite paperâ on its âorganisational, operational and financial statusâ based on last five yearsâ performance, a move that many believe could spell trouble for Lalu Prasad, whose âturnaround theoryâ has few buyers. </b>
A<b> red-faced Lalu shot back at the Minister saying she suffered from âcomplex</b>â, but Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar believed it would expose Mamataâs predecessor for his jugglery.
âThe white paper will be used for framing a suitable strategy and roadmap for the coming years. We will draw long-term as well as short-term action plans,â Mamata told reporters here on Friday while trying to suggest it was not against any individual.
But the Budget she tabled in Parliament had already caught Lalu on the wrong foot. <b>The Railway Minister pointed out that figures mentioned in the interim budget (which Lalu presented in February) were âunrealisticâ, âunsustainableâ and asking for âmid-course correctionâ. </b>Â <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> She said high targets were not met due to non-utilisation of commercial ventures.âI have now set more realistic targets for 2009-10 in the main Budget based on the counting trend in the manufacturing trend of recession in the manufacturing sector and exports,â Mamata said.
<b>She reduced the Railwayâs projected receipts by Rs 4,800 crore in the backdrop of its performance shortcomings in 2008-09. Freight loading fell short of the target of 850 million tonnes by 17 million tonnes. Revenues from commercial utilisation of surplus railway lands also did not materialise. âI was surprised to find there was a provision of Rs 3400 crore for resources mobilisation through PPP, of which Rs 3300 crore would just not materialise. This would imply a straight reduction in the annual plan to a level below the actual expenditure in 2008-09,â</b> the Minister pointed out in the Lok Sabha.
Moreover,<b> the net revenue of Indian Railways has been pegged at Rs 8,121.48 crore, down from Rs 10,876.48 crore as presented in the interim Budget</b>. <!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/tongue.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tongue.gif' /><!--endemo--> Also, the investible surplus available with the Railways has been lowered to Rs 8,631.04 crore for 2009-10 compared to Rs 13,532.33 crore projected by the former Railway Minister just over four months ago.Despite this mid-course correction, Mamata has proposed a higher dividend to the Centre at Rs 5,479.22 crore for the current financial year, up from the interim estimate of Rs 5,304.22 crore.
Faced with some hard facts, Lalu tried to put up a brave face by saying he was not afraid of any white paper on the performance of the Railway Minister. âThe white paper is her (Mamataâs) shortsightedness, I am not afraid of it,â Lalu told reporters within hours after Mamata presented the Budget.
Saying that Mamata could not pay dividend during her previous stint as the Railway Minister, <b>Lalu pointed out that he had nothing to hide when already people from IIM to Harvard have come to study the Indian Railways turnaround </b>story. âThere was least dependence on the Central Government or the market (when I was the Minister),â he claimed. Lalu also used the opportunity to display dissatisfaction on Mamata not involving Bihar in rail lines and expressed the apprehension that rail projects in Bihar might be closed by the Ministry.
But Mamata found a friend in Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, a former Railway Minister and predecessor of Lalu, who believed that the white paper would âexposeâ his arch rival. âThe decline shown in the cash surplus and increase in the operating ratio from 70 to 92.5 per cent proposed for the current fiscal will bring to light the facts relating to the Railways earning profits,â Kumar said.
Kumar has been going hammer and tongs at the RJD strongmanâs performance as the Railway Minister during the UPA Governmentâs first term when he demanded a probe into the alleged jugglery of figures in profits between 2004 and 2009.
In another veiled attack on Lalu, Nitish appreciated Mamata for scaling down targets of Railways and making only such promises that were possible to implement within a time-frame. âIt is a clear departure from Lalu Prasadâs budgetary speeches, which remained a bundle of promises and much beyond the targets possible to achieve,â he said.
When Mamata was presenting the Budget, there was some exchange of words between her and Lalu. Later, the Railway Minister said she had respect for her predecessor and there was no issue between them.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->