The Narendra Modi-led government’s first bitter pill -– increase in railway fares by 14.2 per cent -– has suddenly made the middle class realise that achhe din aren’t coming so soon. In defence of the government, it has to run enterprises which have to at least break even. Otherwise, the quality of services will continue to stagnate.
Government services, whether it is Railways or other departments, continue to be bad. Just take a look at the toilets in the trains or even at stations. They are both outdated and full of stench. And we are not even talking of railway tracks, which in many states are in a dismal condition.
But while criticising a government which cannot provide something as basic as a clean toilet is right, reluctance to pay a higher price for a train journey will always keep the Railways in a critical situation.
The government has to either hike ticket rates or charge an extra tax. The question is whether the direct beneficiary of the public good pays for it or should everyone pay for it (tax) and subsidise it for the beneficiary. One should support the former model.
Yes, the middle class has a good reason to complain. It has been facing an inflation rate in the excess of 6-8 per cent during the past few years, interest rates continue to be high and now prices of travel will also go up substantially. On the other hand, salaries have not gone up enough to account for this additional burden.
The main problem is that earlier governments continued to delay the decision of increasing prices or tariffs. This has led to a situation where steep hikes are now required. If the cost of these services had been increased by 4-5 per cent annually, it wouldn't have created a crisis like this. A sudden 15 per cent increase messes up household budgets completely.
Another case in point is the high subsidy in petrol and especially diesel has already led to huge losses for oil companies. It forced the earlier government to increase the price every month. Similar steps will be required for power, water, etc so that the quality of services can be increased substantially.
The middle class, the major beneficiary of Railways, can take solace from the fact that their salaries have seen a hike of at least 150-200 per cent (if not more) in the past decade whereas fares haven’t gone up so much.
Someone had to bite the bullet. The Modi-government did it. Now, it has to provide services that justify the increase and follow the simple rule of increasing it every year so that people don’t feel cheated.
The people who are complaining about it should realise that capitalist salaries and socialist tariffs don’t go together. And Mr Modi, please do something about the freeloaders. The middle class cannot subsidise them perennially.
