Arun Jaitley calls rail fare hike decision correct

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley here today defended Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for increasing railway price.

"The Railway minister has taken a difficult but a correct decision," says Jaitley. "India must decide whether it wants a world class Railway or a ram shackled one. By withdrawing the countermanding order, the present Railway Minister has taken a challenging decision," he added.

BJP led NDA government on Friday decided to raise passenger fares by 14.2% and freight charges by 6.5% effective June 25 which will help Indian Railways raise an additional Rs 8,000 crore in the financial year.

Post the announcement BJP had been facing criticism from the opposition and the common people for announcing the hike before the budget.

Earlier today protests were held across the country demanding reduction in rail price.

The budget is expected to be announced in the first week of July. By tradition, the railway budget is announced two days before that.

The fare increase had been proposed by the previous government in the interim budget but was put on hold because of elections.