Old horseman, don?t pass by Sir ? Malda?s beloved Barkatda may have been reincarnated West Bengal Congress chief when Sonia Gandhi willed it following Somen Mitra?s disastrous stint at the helm (?Sonia cold to Priya?s dump-Ghani drive?, March 6). But with Priya Ranjan Das Munshi around, whoever wears the crown is uneasy. He is rumoured to have been the principal instigator of the Somen Mitra-Mamata Banerjee hostilities. So much so that when the fires of their antagonism seemed to die out, Das Munshi stoked them with his manipulative skills. The result: Banerjee?s exit from the Congress, together with fans and all. Which led to the Congress debacle at the polls and Mitra?s bowing out. Don?t say Das Munshi hasn?t worked hard for the position he enjoys in the party today. How dare an old horse like A.B.A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury be decorated as party president? Das Munshi has yet again unsheathed his ?operative? genius so he can convince the Congress?s lady boss that Barkatda needs to be dumped. But if he?s smart, she?s smarter. Come August, she is to let the party polls decide the fates of the powermongers who try to (mis)guide her. Yours faithfully, T.K. Samanta, Calcutta Off track Sir ? The Union railway minister, Nitish Kumar, has not been generous to West Bengal for the year 1999-2000, as the railway budget shows. So much for Mamata Banerjee?s hopes for concessions via the ?Bengal package?. Trinamool Congress members have surely not missed the irony that the railway minister has tried to ?revive? old railway projects ? now lying dormant ? in West Bengal by allocating the least possible funds. Banerjee should be aware the railway budget proposals are merely on paper ? they need Parliament?s stamp of approval. Legislative clearance being granted, the task of implementation rests with the concerned railway authorities. Projects in West Bengal have gathered dust due to paucity of funds. As for the extension of railway lines and their conversion into broad gauge, acquisition of land from the state poses a big obstacle. The Left Front government has not shown any interest in developing railway services.Nor has the Union railway ministry put pressure on it to ensure projects make progress. While Banerjee has drawn a blank vis a vis the railway budget in view of her ?package?, the state?s communists are not disappointed. Kumar has okayed an intercity express linking Shalimar and Haldia. He has appeased the left, which is hostile to the Centre, by honouring its demand for such a train. And he has created the impression he cares more for West Bengal than does Banerjee, her bountiful packages notwithstanding. The latter should wake up to the fact Pramod Mahajan?s rhetoric at the Brigade Parade grounds had no substance. He promised the moon ? but he is not the railway minister and so has no power to make public announcements on railway projects or to see his promises materialize. Yours faithfully, Ashok Ray Chaudhuri, Calcutta Sir ? In less than a year there has been a steep hike in fares for passengers travelling in airconditioned coaches. The official explanation: money is to be raised to fund development projects and to create amenities for passengers. In May last year there was an unprecedented 20 per cent hike for the Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expresses. This year the same trains are included in the fare hike proposed by the budget. I have travelled regularly over the last five years on the Rajdhani Express?s Calcutta-Delhi-Calcutta route. I would like to ask what kind of ?service? the railway ministry is talking about if, for instance, it has the gall to offer passengers only bread and one banana each when the Rajdhani reaches its destination late and well after lunch time. What does it have to say about dirty toilets, inadequate water supply and compartments that never seem to be cleaned by sweepers? Can it explain why passengers ? who are entitled to safety while travelling ? only rarely find security men doing their rounds with superannuated rifles? Or how unauthorized hawkers can dare enter coaches under the very nose of railway personnel? Only part privatization of the railways can improve the quality of passenger services. The sector is overstaffed and corrupt. Unless flab is reduced, no amount of public money ? raised come budget time ? can improve matters. Of course, the railway minister seems more interested in preventing the collapse of the coalition at the Centre than in passenger welfare. And what he is most concerned about is project implementation in his home state: that will, after all, brighten his future electoral prospects. Yours faithfully, Subir Sen, Calcutta Sir ? The editorial, ?On a past track? (Feb 26), rightly calls the idea that a particular year be devoted to passengers ?a trifle ridiculous?. The railways constitute a public utility service and should be dedicated to passengers at all times. It has become a fashion to devote particular years to particular groups or projects. No one gains from it, least of all the proposed ?beneficiaries? of symbolic farces. The railway ministry deserves praise for raising the minimum penalty for ticketless travellers to Rs 250. But for culprits in the more expensive classes, the penalty should be in proportion to the increase in fares. The sleeper class penalty should be one and a half times that of the second class fine, the AC chair car penalty three times, the AC three tier sleeper 4.5 times. Also, no government can control expenditure unless it dispenses with the unproductive system of free benefits ? official or unofficial ? for its employees, particularly senior officers. Yours faithfully, L.K. Kumar, Calcutta Sir ? If the railway budget is soft on low bracket travellers, it is not harsh on the rich either (?Please-ally Nitish hits middle class?, Feb 26). Many people can afford to travel first class or do so on company accounts despite fare hikes. This group could have been targetted. The brunt of the increase is to be borne by middleclass, salaried people who travel by train only once or twice a year for their vacations. The total ban on the sale of cigarettes and bidis on railway platforms and inside trains is too extreme a measure. Introduc-tion of smoking and non-smoking coaches would be more fair to all passengers. Also, pantry car personnel must be warned against the malpractice of surreptitiously serving alcohol to passengers. Fares and freight should be regularly raised in accordance with the rate of inflation. Affluent passengers, particularly businessmen, should have no problem in coping with hikes. Yours faithfully, Sush Kocher, Calcutta Sir ? On March 25, I boarded the Bombay Mail via Allahabad at Jabalpur. I had booked my berth in the AC sleeper coach. At around nine pm at Mahiar station, a gentleman claiming to be a booking clerk accompanied by two other persons entered the coach. They told the coach conductor they were vigilance inspectors going to Mughal Sarai and demanded two berths on priority basis. These were alloted without any verification of their identity. I woke up before the train entered Mughal Sarai and found berths vacant and my suitcase missing. The names and ticket numbers of the men given the berths were not found in the passenger chart when the coach conductor was forced to scrutinize it. I lodged a complaint with the train?s guard at Mughal Sarai. Later, complaints were lodged with the general railway police at Howrah Station, the minister for railways, the chairman of the railway board and other senior officials. No one has had the courtesy to reply ? which only goes to show how miserably passengers are treated by the railways authorities. Yours faithfully, R.C. Shrivastava, Calcutta Sir ? Other than the Falaknama Express, the Amritsar Mail, the Rajdhani Express via Patna, the Kamrup Express and the Santiniketan Express are diesel hauled for the entire length of their journeys. This, though they run partially on electrified tracks. The railway authorities advocate fuel conservation. Yet they themselves indulge in reckless waste. Use of electric locomotives for trains that run even partially on electrified tracks should be seriously considered. Yours faithfully, Amal Kumar Mukherjee, Calcutta Letters to the editor should be sent to: The Telegraph 6 Prafulla Sarkar Street Calcutta 700 001 Email: the_telegraph_india @newscom.com Fax: 225 3240/41