864 (3 of 10 series) Review of Bolshevik Revolution 1917 to redesign True Complete Socialism

Readers may be aware that the Rulers of India 2016 act without much concern for the difficulties of the poor, promising heaven for them in the next birth. Traditionally, India had a separate Railway Budget, independent of the National General Budget. Railway Budget used to be prepared and presented by Union Railway Minister, whereas General Budget used to be prepared and presented by Union Finance Minister. In 2016, the Rulers have merged the Railway Budget into the General Budget. The General Budget is going to be presented within about a month.

Our Readers may be aware that Rulers of India right from 1991, irrespective of their party affiliations had/have/will have special love for the Corporate Pressure Groups like Assocham, CII, FICCI, etc. What they take pleasure to say to the Corporate Pressure Groups, they do not dare to say directly to the common people. The Rulers can see eye into the eyes of the Corporate Heads, but they can't and they do not wish to have an eye contact with the common people. For the same reason, a distance of at least 200/250 meters seems to be maintained between the dais and the common people in public meetings. Though the Rulers seem to make hearty contacts with the public, cracking jokes, waving hands in the sky, voice modulations, actual words are spoken to the sky, picked up and sieved by common people according to their own whims and fancies (It's a rare person who wants to hear what he doesn't want to hear.). Even Corporate Business Persons and Industrialists are not exempt from this trait. In one such Conference on Accounting Reforms in Railways organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Mr. Arun Jaitley, Union Finance Minister, now in charge of Railway Budget also, informed the CII on 20th Dec. 2016, that Railway Fares will undergo an upward revision.

Here is a news report: Click to go to http://www.financialexpress.com/budget/ahead-of-budget-2017-arun-jaitley-hints-indian-railways-fares-will-be-freed/481343/. Some jewels from his speech:--

"...Railways got caught in a battle where populism prevailed over performance.. For any commercial establishment to be run, the first essential principle is that consumers must pay for the services that they receive. ..."

"...The core competence of the railways is really to drive trains, to provide those services. Hospitality may not be the core competence of the railways and, therefore, what is not within its core competence, the principle of outsourcing — which is accepted world over — can be a logical addition to those activities of railways ..."

"...Power and highway sectors started doing well only after consumers paid for the services they got. ..."

"...The world over, only those services have succeeded where there is a financial model which says that consumers pay for what they receive. ..."

yb-a-donkey's observations

Okay, let at least the Corporate Bosses be happy, that there is going to be a surgical strike on the Railway Passengers, and that they (industrialists) can fly happily on some Jet Airlines or Indigo Airlines, and talk to one another face to face.

FANTASY OF TOTAL TRUE COMPLETE SOCIALISM, and A LOOK INTO THE BOLSHEVIK REVOLUTION + 74 YEARS OF USSR

In my donkey's day dreams, I think of total absolutely free public transport for all citizens.. Travellers need not purchase any Railway Tickets either paying cash NEW NOTES, or through some paytm or some other wallet. Then, Indian Citizens will be deprived of their gambling opportunities of winning Lucky Draws and Mega Draws promised by our Rulers.

Question: WAS THERE NO COMPLETELY FREE PUBLIC TRANSPORT IN THE DEFUNCT USSR?

I have been on a searching spree, for information on how the public transport system in 1918 Russia worked. As nobody could own any assets, at least theoretically, nobody could possess wallets and money, and if that assumption is correct, there should not have been any fares at all. On first-cum-first serve basis (subject to some exceptions for journeys on official duties of Government servants, and some similar other genuine travellers, who may have to be given some priority in boarding), anybody could board trains/ buses /trams and travel free. But, I am unable to trace any such evidence in early Soviet History right now.

Just before disintegration of USSR, i.e. 1991, Soviet Railways seem to have been subsidised to the extent of 70%. It implies that pre-1991 Passengers had to bear 30% fare. This does not seem to be reasonable. We may have to re-discuss this item after collecting more evidence.

2016 INDIAN RAILWAYS

Question: In India also, train-fares are heavily subsidised. Consequently tracks and rolling stock are poorly maintained, resulting in accidents

WHO SUBSIDISES WHOM?

GENERAL COMPARTMENTS OF EXPRESS TRAINS: Express Train bogeys, General Compartments are filled 4 times their full official capacity. That means 4 passengers get ZIPPED/COMPRESSED (like in a Computer Zip file) in one passenger's space. It implies that a passenger should pay only 25% fare, with 75% subsidisation.
PASSENGER TRAINS (Passenger, meaning = not Express. Slow moving. They stop everywhere). Sometimes they stop for several hours anywhere without any information on Public Address System, for giving way to Express Trains. In such situations, the foolish passenger who boarded a passenger train would not know whether he should go out and continue his journey by bus or not. The moment he leaves the Station after one hour wait, the train may start, as if something was pushing and rushing it from behind, with divine force.

A 33 km (20 mile). journey which takes about 40 mts. on buses, will take 1 hour to 2 hours on passenger trains. Those travellers who have urgent work use buses, resulting in low occupancy of passenger trains. If a laborer goes on a passenger train, for that day, he is likely to lose his one day wage. Railways use only their IDLE TIME on tracks, and some dilapidated bogeys which cannot be employed elsewhere, for the passenger trains. Things which would have remained idle & revenueless otherwise, will get some revenue for the Railways.

Passengers pay full fare, 75% in terms of their wasted time, and 25% in terms of actual fare = Total 100%. Hence, the element of subsidisation of passenger trains is imaginary, because on any route, Railways run only 2 or 3 PASSENGER trains per day, THAT TOO ONLY DURING DAY TIME. If they run PASSENGER TRAINS at a frequency of every 30 mts., the question of subsidisation may arise, depending on whether Road passengers shift to Passenger Trains or not. When road passengers shift to railways, train-occupancy ratios go up even for Passenger trains. Then we get the situation of 4 passengers crowding in 1 passengers space i.e. gets ZIPPED/COMPRESSED, as in Express Trains, discussed above.

Ques: ARE THERE NO OTHER WAYS/MEANS OF RAISING THE REVENUES OF RAILWAYS, WITHOUT RAISING FARES

THIS ANSWER APPLIES ONLY TO CAPITALIST SYSTEM. IT DOES NOT APPLY TO TRUE COMPLETE SOCIALISM.

Ans: This is a very very old hackneyed question, which every Railway Minister promises to implement, but NEVER IMPLEMENTS, for various reasons. Some solutions:--

1. Maximising advertisement revenues: Advertisements on laminated wall panels within the compartments. Advertisements on the exterior surfaces of bogeys. Permitting advertisement hoardings along side, parallel to railway tracks, both facing inward (towards tracks) and outward (towards roads). Advertisements on bridges.

IN A LIGHTER VEINRailways have to learn, how to maximise advertisement revenues, from Indian TV Channels, particularly Regional Language TV Channels. 40% of viewing time on Indian TV Channels consists of advertisements. Only 60% time is used for viewing programs in a dis-joined manner (without continuity). For skipping advertisements on TV channels, we have to use 'remote(s)' like some typewriters or mobile phones.

2. Constructing rows of shops along the tracks, and leasing them out.

a) Facing the roads adjoining the Railway Tracks.
b) When two rows of shops face one another in the space between railway line and the public Road, a bazar can be created.
c) Creation of specilised bazars for heavy items unloaded from trains such as construction steel rods, cement, vegetables, food grains, feldspar chips, sand, timber, can be experimented with. This will also ease traffic on the streets of towns and cities. Warehouses can be built and leased out. Open spaces can also be leased out for storing bricks, cement, stones, ores, etc.

3. Erection of solar power panels parallel to the rail tracks, in at least four rows (one facing track at a distance, one on its reverse side, one facing adjoining road, one on its reverse side. Alternatively, sheds can be buit, using solar power panels for ceiling.

4. Wherever there are wider spaces belonging to Railways, they can be leased out for raising cattle fodder or for grazing cattle.

5. Wherever there are long vacant strips of land along side the railway lines on both sides, whereever technically feasible, long strips of cement based-walled water storage tanks can be built for collecting rain water. This water can be sold to Municipalities and Panchayats for purification and supply of drinking water.

To continue. सशेष. సశేషం.