Patna: Describing the white paper presented by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on the ministry's functioning during his regime as a "blank paper", RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Monday said the document lacked vetting by the Union cabinet or CAG and warranted breach of privilege.
"I treat it (white paper) as blank paper as it doesn't carry anything other than old information," the former railway minister told a press conference here.
"There is nothing in the white paper that Mamata bahen tabled. However, the paper has not proved that I was telling a lie... Rather it has appreciated the steps and performance the Railways pulled off during my tenure," he said.
Going by the history of accounting system and procedure for introducing accounting changes in Indian Railways, he said it could be made after examination in the office of the financial commissioner of Indian Railways and then sent to other appropriate authorities.
"The white paper was presented without the approval of Union cabinet and therefore, it also warrants breach of privilege... The Prime Minister and several top authorities are aware of what is there in the so called white paper," he said.
"But it is a different matter that I do not want to get involved in small things... Mine was the golden period in the history of Railways," Prasad added.
Prasad said 75.9 cent operating ratio, the universally accepted best oevrall indicator of operating efficiency, in 2007-08 during his tenure was the best since 1974.
"Therefore my tenure is the golden period in the history of Railways," he claimed.
The cash surplus shown by him was not jugglery of figures but based on facts and "people have appreciated it", he said.
Claiming that Banerjee had personally pointed out to him that there was nothing against him in the white paper, Prasad said since the condition of Railways was not good and projects worth thousands of crores of rupees, including those worth Rs 55,000 crore for Bihar, have to be implemented, "people wanted to find an excuse at this stage."
Referring to the financial indicators of Railways during 2004-05 to 2008-09 as mentioned in the white paper, Prasad said plan investment through internal generation was Rs 56,868 crore, bank balance as on March 31, 2009 was Rs 15,654 crore.
If less balance of Rs 4,588 crore as on March 31, 2004 when Nitish Kumar demitted office was deducted, the bank balance would be Rs 11,066 crore, he added.
Railways had paid dividend of Rs 20,735 crore to the government and therefore it had cash surplus of Rs 88,669 crore, Prasad said.
If there was no cash surplus from where the dividend of over Rs 20,700 crore was paid and how were plan investments of nearly Rs 57,000 crore made from internal generation, Prasad asked.
Even the plan investments increased from Rs 13,394 crore in 2003-04 to Rs 36,336 crore in 2008-09 and during 2004-05 to 2008-09, Railways' total plan expenditure was Rs 1,24,578 crore out of which Rs 43,436 crore was sourced through various sources, he said.
Plan investments of Rs 56,868 crore, dividend payment of Rs 20,735 crore and increase in bank (fund) balance of Rs 11,066 crore were arranged through cash surplus of Rs 88,669 crore. This financial performance and internal resource generation was the best ever in the history of Indian Railways, he claimed.
PTI
First Published: Monday, December 21, 2009, 21:38