Train Of Neglect
FRONTLINE|March 2, 2018

Jaitley’s Budget offers little to railway passengers or businesses and is marked by a singular failure to address the deep faults in the system that have a critical bearing on safety. 

R. Elangovan
Train Of Neglect

HAVING DEPRIVED THE RAILWAY MINISTER of the task of formulating a budget for the Indian Railways, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has failed to put his money where his mouth is. The allocations for this critical infrastructure are not just meagre but irresponsible given the spate of rail accidents in recent months. Jaitley made much of the fact that he has allocated Rs.1.46 lakh crore for investment in the Railways; but as is the case with the rest of his Budget, this is too little given the scale of the government’s plan for India’s largest public sector undertaking.

Soon after the Narendra Modi government assumed office, it unveiled an investment plan aimed at modernising the rail system. It proposed investments to the tune of Rs.8.56 lakh crore over a five-year period, implying an average annual investment of Rs.1.71 lakh crore. In the first four years of this plan, starting in 2015-16, the proposed cumulative outlay has been Rs.4.98 lakh crore, implying a shortfall of Rs.1.86 lakh crore. Even more outrageously, the actual outlays in each of the first three years was lower than what was initially “allocated” in the respective budgets. The reality was that in the first three years, actual allocations were short of initial plan allocations by a whopping one-third.

There are two kinds of problems plaguing Jaitley’s approach. The first is the mix of resources that the government planned—hoped would be a better word—to mobilise in order to fund the plan. For instance, resources from public-private partnerships (PPPs), which were expected to account for 15 per cent of the investments, have failed miserably to meet expectations in each year.

Denne historien er fra March 2, 2018-utgaven av FRONTLINE.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra March 2, 2018-utgaven av FRONTLINE.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA FRONTLINESe alt
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
FRONTLINE

How Not To Handle An Epidemic

The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Tragedy on foot
FRONTLINE

Tragedy on foot

As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Sarpanchs as game changers
FRONTLINE

Sarpanchs as game changers

Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

time-read
7 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Scapegoating China
FRONTLINE

Scapegoating China

As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
New worries
FRONTLINE

New worries

Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.

time-read
9 mins  |
June 5, 2020
FRONTLINE

No love lost for labour

Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.

time-read
8 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Capital's Malthusian moment
FRONTLINE

Capital's Malthusian moment

In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
Understanding migration
FRONTLINE

Understanding migration

When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.

time-read
10 mins  |
June 5, 2020
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
FRONTLINE

Waiting for Jabalpur moment

The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020
An empty package
FRONTLINE

An empty package

The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.

time-read
10+ mins  |
June 5, 2020