White paper lays bare current troubles, promises bright future

 With congested networks, fast-drying finances and a cynical attitude to boot, Indian Railway presents an abysmal picture of shamble and lethargy, according to a white paper tabled in Parliament.

 “Indian Railways has a glorious past, a turbulent present and a bright future. It is a giant emerging out of a deep

slumber. An awake, alive and kicking Indian Railways can lead the country to greater heights of accomplishment,” the white paper, which minister Suresh Prabhu presented along with the Railway Budget, read.

Overcrowding networks and scarcity of resources is one thing, but the paper highlights the absence of the most basic level of sustenance: meeting its own operational expenses. 
 “Resources for development and replacement are stressed. It is finding it difficult to even meet its operational expenses,” the paper admitted.

Evident in the white paper is the current dispensation’s determination to turn things around.
“To make an attempt at resurrecting itself, Indian Railways has drawn up an ambitious five year action plan,” the paper declared.

“The realisation is there that if the vicious cycle of under-investment is to be turned into a virtuous cycle of prosperity; crutches of support will have to be abandoned. Indian Railways will have to generate its own resources for its development,” the paper noted.

Suresh Prabhu makes no secret of his aim to make the railways self-sufficient without the chronic dependency on the government, a fact the white paper reiterates forcefully.