July 7: Madhavrao Scindia today regretted that Indian coffers are so empty that no state government is willing to bear the cost of improving local transport services in their capital cities.

At a luncheon hosted by Brihanmumbai Regional Congress Committee (BRCC) president Murli Deora this afternoon, it was apparent that the Maharaja of Scindia has not lost touch with the realities of administering a vast conglomeration like the Indian Railways, though it might be close to a decade that he ceased to be Union Minister of State for Railways.

Scindia believes Mumbai's suburban service would improve by leaps and bounds if the state government agreed to subsidise the cost of local transport.

``Everywhere in the world France, UK, Germany, Japan the underground service is treated as a social cause by governments who subsidise the network in public interest. Unfortunately, here everyone attempts to see if they can get benefits without involving themselves.''

Considering that Calcutta takes away almost 75 per cent of Railway's suburban budget, Mumbai may have a long wait until West Bengal's capital has its own metro service clear and running. Until then, Scindia wondered, if the city's suburban network can bear the load of 4 million suburban commuters each day, without help from the municipal corporation. ``However, they are just about breaking even, now because of Western Railway. Central Railway's suburban service, though, is running in loss.''

Scindia's ruminations indicate there might be a rethinking on the Congress' part vis-a-vis the fruits of liberalisation. ``One's thoughts mature and views change,'' he said. ``I am against open-ended liberalisation except in case of infrastructure ports, telecommunication, etc. They need much improvement. Look at the Mumbai and Calcutta ports. Ships hang around the seas for three weeks at a stretch. Privatisation would help their cause.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.