New Delhi: The fact that the Indian Railways recorded a revenue loss of Rs 15,024.58 crore in the financial year 2021-22 and there is a persistent downward trend in revenue over the years is a sign of gaps in overall planning and management, a Parliamentary Committee said.
The Indian Railways is running on losses. In 2021-22, it recorded a loss of Rs 15,024.58 crore, which it has put down to an increase in staff expenditure over the lpst few years. The COVID-19 pandemic too affected its revenues, the Railways has said.
A Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways noted that there has been a continuous downward trend in revenues in the Railways over the past few years.
The Committee said that the decline in revenue generation is an indicator of “internal deficiencies in the overall planning and management of the Railways”, per The Hindu. The Committee was “perturbed” to see that despite enhanced budgetary support and extra budgetary resources, the Indian Railways has not been able to generate sufficient funds internally, it said.
The Committee noted that Rs 70,516 crore of the Railways’ revenues went to its pension fund. This was impacting its operating ratio – which takes into account the total working expenditure and total traffic earnings – adversely, the Committee said.
The Committee recommended that the Ministry of Railways implement measures to stop this downward decline in revenue and ensure means to generate revenues.
Last year, a parliamentary standing committee pulled up the Indian Railways for the “disregard” shown by the Board towards the recommendations of the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) and for not framing safety rules for the operations of goods trains.
