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No more Rail Budget? Niti Ayog note to PMO terms it as ‘failed’ exercise
This February’s Rail Budget, presented by Minister Suresh Prabhu, may have been the last.
The NDA government has sought the Railway Ministry’s comments on a 20-page note sent by NITI Aayog to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), arguing in favour of doing away with the high-profile annual exercise.
The note, titled “Dispensing with the Rail Budget” and jointly authored by Aayog member and economist Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai, Officer on Special Duty, argues that the exercise had failed to be of use to the sector and become a “mechanism to announce popular measures”.
Rail Bhawan sources said that the Department of Economic Affairs, the Finance Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary will also be part of ongoing deliberations on this issue.
This February’s Rail Budget, presented by Minister Suresh Prabhu, may have been the last.
The NDA government has sought the Railway Ministry’s comments on a 20-page note sent by NITI Aayog to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), arguing in favour of doing away with the high-profile annual exercise.
The note, titled “Dispensing with the Rail Budget” and jointly authored by Aayog member and economist Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai, Officer on Special Duty, argues that the exercise had failed to be of use to the sector and become a “mechanism to announce popular measures”.
Rail Bhawan sources said that the Department of Economic Affairs, the Finance Secretary and the Cabinet Secretary will also be part of ongoing deliberations on this issue.