When a Railway Minister had to resign after hiking train fare

When a Railway Minister had to resign for hiking train fare

In India’s political history, a railway minister had to once put in his papers after hiking train tickets. The opposition came from his own political party, a coalition partner at the Centre, demanding for its nominee minister’s resignation and a rollback of the fare hike.

The year was 2012 and Railway Budget was still tabled in Parliament separately ahead of the general Budget. The government at the Centre was ruled by the United Progressive Alliance led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh of the Congress. The Railway Minister came from its alliance partner, the Trinamool Congress, which was in power in West Bengal under Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.

A year earlier, PM Singh had to backtrack from his move to allow foreign investors such as Walmart to invest in the retail sector after a pushback from the TMC.

The Rail fare hike was shaping up to meet a similar fate.

Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi stood in Parliament on March 14, 2012 to present his maiden Budget. In his Rail Budget speech, he proposed an increase in the train ticket prices — a first in eight years — from 2 paise per km all the way to 30 paise per km for different classes. The revenue was needed to upgrade the vast but creaking infrastructure of the national transporter.

To be sure, the Rail Budget also announced many other things such as 75 new Express trains, 21 new passenger trains and 8 MEMU services. There was a mention of special coaches for “differently-abled persons”. And an acknowledgment that “SMS on passenger mobile phone in case of e-ticket to be accepted as proof of valid
reservation”.

But one point about a “minor increase in passenger fares” caught everyone’s attention.

Then Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi arrives at Parliament House to present the Rail Budget 2012-13 in New Delhi on Wednesday, March 14, 2012. (Express Archive Photo by Anil Sharma)

What did the Rail Budget say

The Budget document put it in these words:

“The marginal increase in passenger fares is as follows: By 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class; 3 paise per km for mail/express second class; 5 paise per km for sleeper class; 10 paise per km for AC Chair Car, AC 3 tier and First Class; 15 paise per km for AC 2 tier and 30 paise per km for AC I. The fares will be rounded off to the next nearest five rupees and the minimum fares and platform tickets will cost Rs. 5.”

The across-the-board hike in fares caused uproar not just from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which was then sitting in the Opposition benches, and labelled it anti-aam aadmi (common people). The loudest voice of protest came from Rail Minister Trivedi’s own party, the TMC.

What Dinesh Trivedi said in his Rail Budget speech

Then Rail Minister Trivedi said this in his Budget speech: “After taking into account the spoken and written words of experts and people who understand railways, reports of Kakodkar and Pitroda Committees, and within the overall parameters set out in Vision 2020 document, I realise that a huge sum of Rs 14 lakh crore is required in the next ten years. Given the serious constraint of funds even to meet the day to day operational expenditure, I have a Himalayan task of running the Indian Railways safely. I had two very clear yet contrasting options – either to keep the railways in status quo mode with just incremental annual changes, or as the phrase goes, ‘bite the bullet’. The second option would involve going for a generational change with a focus on safety and inclusive growth to meet the aspirations of this great country in the next decade. I chose the generational change, inspired by Kabi Guru Rabindranath Tagore:

“Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high” “.

He also laid out the acute financial situation.

” I have had wide consultations with various stakeholders. The input costs of railways have been going up. The impact of the 6th Pay Commission on the staff costs is well known to the Hon’ble Members. Fuel prices have increased by more than 50% during the last decade. The movement of Wholesale Price Index and Consumer Price Index has followed similar pattern. During this period, the cost of passenger transportation by road has increased manifold. Consequently, a large chunk of short distance passenger traffic has got diverted from road to rail, creating additional pressure on rail infrastructure”.

Dinesh Trivedi had defended the fare hike, saying he was proposing a modest increase in fares  going against the advise received from sundry quarters to go for a “steep increase”. (Express Archive Photo by Amit Mehra)

Trivedi said he was proposing a modest increase in fares  going against the advise received from sundry quarters to go for a “steep increase”.

“I have been counselled to go for a steep increase in passenger fare as there has been no increase for last almost 8 years. However, guided by an overriding concern for the aam admi, . I have desisted from any steep increase,” he said.

He also mentioned there was a demand “from several quarters for setting up of an independent Railway Tariff Regulatory Authority that will suggest the level of tariffs both for freight and fares”. But Trivedi said this was “an important area and needs a serious debate”.

Then, he laid out his plan. “I propose to rationalise the fares to cause minimal impact on the common man and to keep the burden within tolerance limits in general. I am asking for an extra only 2 paise per km for suburban and ordinary second class.”

The increase wouldn’t plug the gap in finances fully, he said. “The proposed adjustments do not even cover fully the impact of increase in fuel prices during the last eight years. I am keeping the valuable passengers of Indian Railways insulated from the burden of increase in staff costs.”.

The revolt

The TMC criticised the proposed fare hike almost as soon as the speech got over.

TMC chief Mamata Banerjee with Dinesh Trivedi. Banerjee was unequivocal in the opposition to the fare hike and vowed to not allow any increase. (Express Archives)

Party supremo Banerjee was unequivocal in the opposition to the fare hike. She vowed to not allow any increase. “We had the portfolio of railways. At that time we had done several developmental works. Today the rail fare has been increased we were not aware of it. Our parliamentary party has already opposed it,” Banerjee said in Nandigram today. “We will not accept the fire hike. We will not allow the fire hike to happen for the sake of the common man… We are totally against it. I can assure you this,” Banerjee said.

Other party members such as MP S Bandopadhyay said the party wasn’t consulted. Party colleague and MP Derek O’Brien was more blunt in his assesment on social media platform X, then known as Twitter: “Railway Budget…what was all that about increasing fares across the board? Upper class…maybe ok…but all? Sorry, cannot agree.”

The retreat

After initially turning down the idea of resigning and taking all blame for the decision, Trivedi, who had stood in the House on Wednesday to propose a fare hike, put in his papers on Sunday evening amid mounting criticism. Defending his fare hike move, Trivedi said he was “a loyal soldier of the party,” and he was “worried about (passenger) safety. I did what I did because of the safety.”

Banerjee nominated another party MP, Mukul Roy, who took charge as Rail Minister.