Keeping his sight firmly fixed on the Bihar Assembly polls due early next year, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav is all set to present a populist budget — a possible decrease in second class fares, de-freezing recruitment and special focus on projects, new lines and trains in backward areas.According to sources, Laloo had been discussing his ideas about the budget with senior officials, including the Railway Board Chairman, Finance Commissioner and other Board members. ‘‘He has met with some resistance on issues like passenger fares and removing the cap on recruitment,’’ disclosed an official.However, the resistance was mild, sources said. The officials — careful not to rub him the wrong way — explained that the things he planned to do would go against the reforms and downsizing which had started in the railways, the sources added.‘‘He was told that reducing passenger fares would not be a good idea as railway finances — not too healthy in the first place — would suffer all the more. The best he could do was maintain status quo and keep the fares static. His idea was to reduce second class fares — subsidising them by increasing those of AC classes. He even considered reducing freight charges in some categories like foodgrain and coal,’’ the official said.The other important thing on Laloo’s agenda — to open up the jobs which had been frozen for the last few years — is likely to be opposed by the Planning Commission and the Finance Ministry. With the thrust on downsizing the massive railways organisation, recruitment in most categories had been capped. The railways had managed to cut down its size from 16 lakh to 15 lakh. Their target was to reach 12 lakh by 2010.‘‘The minister has been arguing that with safety being the prime concern, more recruitment is required,’’ an official said. And Laloo may use the example of his predecessor Nitish Kumar, who had announced recruitment of 20,000 gangmen. The entire process got derailed following the controversy over the RRB examination in Guwahati and the ensuing violence.Bihar was also not far from Laloo’s mind when he called for special attention to backward areas in awarding new projects. ‘‘Bihar falls under the category of backward areas. It remains to be seen how much the state gets in the budget,’’ the official said.
