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As part of “tough measures” to revive the economy, the Narendra Modi government on Friday approved a steep hike in railway passenger fare and freight rates. BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain justified the hike saying for binging the good days several steps have to be taken because “we want to give safety to passengers, our government wants to give security for that you will see so many good result sin railway budget.”
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BJP DEFENDS HIKE IN RAIL FARE AND FREIGHT RATES
Railway minister Sadananda Gowda had sought the approval of PM Narendra Modi to implement the hike because it was essentially a political decision for the new government.
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On May 16, this very proposal of hike was kept before former Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge but the political dispensation, having lost the election, had decided to not implement the hike and leave it for the next government to take a call on.
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Gowda met Finance Minister Arun Jaitley earlier this week and made a case for the hike. Railways has pressed hard for the hike with the logic that the interim rail budget’s calculations were all based on the assumption that a hike would be effected. It had been communicated to the government that if a hike was not allowed then the government should cover the losses through a subsidy to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore.
Effective from June 25 (post midnight of 24th), fares will be raised by 14.2 per cent while freight will be up by 6.5 per cent.
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As much as 10 per cent of the hike in the fare is a flat revision while the remaining 4.2 per cent is on account of a Fuel Adjustment Component as approved in the budget.
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