In a decision which is bound to have negative political consequences, newly formed Narendra Modi government has announced increase of train fare by 14.2% across all classes and freight charges has been increased by 6.5%.
Railway Ministry officials said that the decision was taken on 16th May, by the UPA Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, but he asked the Board to put it on hold, only to be announced by the next Government.
Meanwhile politics has started rolling with all political parties, including Congress, All India Trinamool Congress and Lalu Prasad and Nitish Kumar condemning the move. They have all started making protest saying that the new move will put great pressure on inflation and will also put a great pressure on the common man. The decision is going to have far reaching consequences especially, when wholesale price index has supposedly been highest in the last six months and Government is desperate to control the price rise.
When Narendra Modi came to power, he promised Achhe Din (good days) to the common man. People brought him to power with lots of expectations. The increase of rail fare will definitely put up a lot of pressure on the pockets of common man of India. The decision is going to have long term political consequences in the short term.
