When it starts to rain, it pours.
An already down and out Indian Railways has suffered a revenue loss of 35,000 Crores during the current lock down.
A sudden and unprecedented lock down implemented with just four hours of notice, the most brutal lock down in the world has left the already lurching Indian Railways with a gaping hole of 35,000 Crores.
The Railways has now said that it does not have money to pay pensions.
Government of India went into a much delayed lock down of the country on 24.03.2020. With a sudden announcement on the night of 24.03.2020 all trains, buses, flights were brought to a stand still. People were stranded all over the country.
At mid night, for no reason at all, everything was shut down. Even smaller countries like South Africa, the size of Maharashtra, gave an eight days notice to shut down their country.
But then our Government is given to Master Strokes. It locked down everything and as a result, trains came to a grinding halt. People were stranded where they were.
Indian Railways has now reported that it has lost 35,000 Crores as result of this lock down. It is now just running some special trains while most suburban services in metro cities remain shut.
Unfortunately, this has not made any difference to the spread of Corona Virus, the number of infected people continues to rise.
In fact had people gone back earlier from congested cities like Mumbai, Delhi, etc. the numbers at the village levels and in states like UP, Bihar, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Oddisha, West Bengal would have been lower.
While railways lost 35,000 Crores, the collateral damage has been much more. Migrant workers were forced to travel by any available means possible, including walking back thousands of miles on foot. They paid through their noses for reaching home after the government asked them to become ‘Self-Dependent’ or Atma Nirbhar.
The Government remains in denial of the biggest mass migration of its people in peaceful times triggered by a sudden and brutal decision.