New track

Traditions change with changing times and the Indian Railways is no exception. In the past few years, ever since non-Congress leaders took charge of the railway ministry, it had become a convention to invite senior members of the Railway Employees’ Union to all press conferences and meets addressed by the railway minister. Former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi from the ultra-left Trinamool Congress even went to the extent of seeking approval letters from the union for his proposed (and later, aborted) fare increases. Of late, however, the practice has been discontinued. The current minister, Pawan Bansal of the Congress, did not invite any union member when he announced his much-anticipated across-the-board fare increases earlier this month.