LOK SABHA SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than ...

paucity of funds. The Sam Pitroda as well as Kakodkar Committees Reports said
that investment requirement of the entire Railways is Rs.14 lakh crore. We are
nowhere near this in this Budget. A lot of controversy has been there over the
tariff issue. This House needs to deliberate whether a Railway Tariff Regulatory
Authority is the final solution for our Railways. I come from, where really
Railways is used by millions of people day in and day out for work and everybody
is willing to pay a little more there provided the services of Railways are improved.
If we increase the fares or freight for safety, no consumer will object because
safety is really critical. The kind of rail accidents that have been happening in the
country, we really need to address this issue. I am not sure if the Railway Tariff
Regulatory Authority is the only solution. But if there is an independent authority
which is non-political, the things will become a little easier. If the sense of the
whole House agrees to something like this, we really need to consider. Otherwise,
our Railways will probably decay and die in a few years to come. We need an
Indian Railway Safety Authority as well as a Railway Research and Development
Council on an urgent basis. Railway is one of the most major transport options.
So, we need to improve our tracks and bridges, signaling systems, anti-collision
technology etc. Anti-collision technology is used worldwide today and trains are
getting greener. Railways is using diesel in a big way and using bigger and heavier
machine. So we should use modern technology for improving our trains with more
bogies and use the technology for reducing the use of diesel and coal. If the