The Budget for the Indian Railways!!

Of the so many projects announced in successive Railway Budgets over the last 10 Years nothing much came out other than claps and thumping of desks while it was being read out in the Lok Sabha.
A plan holiday thus is most required to review and revamp, do and undo many things.
5 Years is not enough for a forward looking objective driven government to clean, restore and set right the 'Augean stables'. Strategic resource mobilisation and optimum utilisation should replace fanciful wishful thinking, populist measures and the resultant loss and damages.

The Railways should be more professional driven than politician or sycophantic alter egos and self seekers driven who fan the ridiculousness of some ministers in desperate continued attempts to further their own interests. There must be a greater system of visible accountability and scalability. Pathetically, and even ironically, much after the British were driven out of India many trains still run on those tracks laid by the British! It is an other matter that India possibly would not have known a railway system for long had it not been for them. Our governments did not have the wherewithal to replace and relay some of the rail roads.
Let's hope this plan holiday doesn't last longer than the much needed time frame and the holiday is well used to take stock of things to put the affairs in order. Let's hope the Railways would compete with the Airways in class and not costs.
Large scale support is required from other ministries too for ensuring general sense of belonging; to bring about conducive and congenial situation all round; to put an end with an iron hand to the usage of the Railways for protests and strikes. Security should be of utmost concern both in-train and outside. The properties of the Railways should indeed be ensured as restricted areas for bonafide users only.
This Railway Budget seems a healthy departure for the good from the routine statement of a/c reading and announcements of some wishful populist schemes that merely end with the thumping of desks inside the LS and self patting by the ruling alliance outside.
In all, this is a stock taking transformational futuristic one rather than a self defeating evasive Budget bereft of any empirical analysis with only empty promises. Sometimes, it is good not to do!