Oh how the mighty have fallen! Did you miss the rail budget too!!
1st Feb 2023, 11 AM: The FM Nirmala Seetharaman rose and spoke for nearly 90 minutes. I listened. And listened. Since I mostly failed to grasp the content and direction, I remembered these lines of Troilus from the bard’s Troilus and Cressida, “ Words, words, mere words, no matter from the heart: the effect doth operate another way” . Whatever the bard meant by that, these words did have a confusing effect on me. I was, of course, not an impartial listener. As a railwayman for life, I was listening patiently to grab the expected four lines on Indian Railways, if not from the heart, at least from the mind. Four lines it was the last time round: 1) efficient logistics for small farmers and Small and Medium Enterprises, including in integration of Postal and Railways networks to provide seamless solutions for movement of parcels. 2) ‘One Station-One Product’ 3) Kavach on 2000 km and 400 Vande Bharat trains and 4) PM Gati Shakti Cargo Terminals. I had tweeted my blog on my expectati