Lalu's fare cut candy not so sweet for passengers

OFF THE MARK? Lalu presented the Rail Budget keeping in mind the upcoming polls.

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New Delhi: Lalu Yadav has done it again. A day after presenting a populist Railway Budget, people are slowly waking up to the reality that a lot of the promises made by the Union Railway Minister were simply words.

A clever Lalu has put in so many riders that one's railway ride hasn't really got any cheaper.

Lalu's Chak De Rail Budget was as usual witty, but the humour covered the tracks of the Lalu magic show. He announced reduced fares, but the truth is something different.

For the AC fare-cut, a passenger will pay less for only three months of the year, whereas in peak season — which stretches for nine months — the reduction is only half the actual cut.

What's more, the reduced rates don't apply to 450 popular trains. For AC 3-tier and AC chair cars, the reduced fares are applicable only for the newly designed coaches.

But Lalu's team loyally defends the schemes. "Even in the peak season and on popular trains, the reduction over the last three years has been over 24 per cent," Ofiicer on Special Duty to the Railway Minister, Sudhir Kumar, says.

But it's hard to sell that logic to the people. "Those who are travelling by long-distance trains and important trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi will not benefit much from these measures," a senior citizen says.

Another passenger points out that they travel mostly during the peak season and if the fare cuts are not applicable during this season, then it is of no use.

"Hum jaise passenger peak time mein hi jate hain. Koi tyohaar hai, Raksha Bandhan hai, Diwali hai, sister ke yahan ana jana hai. Usme nahi hai to kya faydaa (People like us mostly travel during peak season. It is during festivals like Raksha Bandhan, Diwali that we usually travel. If the reduced fares are not for those times, then it is of no benefit to us)," he says.

If anything, with this Budget the Lalu celebrated by management gurus seem to be winning over the once socialist RJD leader.

That is why his knowledge of political arithmetic is coming in handy when he juggles the Railway numbers. And if there is any criticism, he simply rides it out in his own style.