The Hindu Business Line : Garib Rath syndrome

The other day my college-going son made me look sheepish by asking me whether we are really so poor so as to book our return ticket from Chennai to New Delhi by Garib Rath, the Railway Minister, Mr Lalu Prasad's new mascot, which he hopes, would enhance his credentials as a leader who cares for the masses. I told my son, rather lamely, that we aren't rich either and so there was nothing wrong in mounting the rath ostensibly meant for the poor.

The Garib Rath is touted as the poor man's Rajdhani or Shatabdi Express what with it plying at the same speed but at almost one-third of the cost sans of course the food. It is targeted at the poor but as like with so many subsidised items in this country, the Garib Rath is also ending up benefiting the rich and the not-so-poor. It is the latest in the litany of non-merit or misdirected subsidies.

In booking tickets for the Garib Rath one is not required to produce one's income certificate. Indeed it would be well-nigh impossible for the Railways to scrutinise the income-certificates proffered across the ticketing counter or fed into the computer screens by those booking i- and e-tickets. Already the chattering middle-class is happily lining up to buy Garib Rath tickets, forgetting for the nonce the disappointment of not being fortunate to land the low-cost tickets of no-frills airlines. The point is like diesel and fertilisers to mention just two, the Garib Rath subsidy is also going to end up as a wasted effort.

The not-so-inconsiderable subsidy in diesel prices vis-à-vis the petrol price, rationalised as being necessary to take care of the poor farmers' tractors in fact benefits the owners of swanky cars who prefer the diesel version for obvious reasons. Ditto for the fertiliser subsidy regime that ironically reaches out to the manufacturers instead of targeting the poor farmer. It is good that the government has woken up and vowed to correct this anomaly in fertiliser subsidy.

Concern for poor is fine especially in a welfare state. But unless the subsidies are properly targeted through a foolproof delivery system, the results can be skewed if not disastrous.

The Garib Rath is the latest manifestation of subsidy gone off track because the poor would still prefer the non-air-conditioned second class in view of the sizeable difference in the fare vis-à-vis that of the air-conditioned Garib Rath. There is no way they can jostle out the well off.

(The author is a New Delhi-based Chartered Accountant.)

S. Murlidharan

More Stories on : Railways | Social Welfare | Impressions

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Create a land market

Budget: A welcome paradigm shift

The quarterly conundrum

Rise of China and India — Resetting the terms of world trade

Mediclaim: A premium trouble

Weird turns in a wireless deal