South Central Railway and the wait for the ‘Pink Book’

South Central Railway awaits release of 'Pink Book' detailing budget allocations, crucial for planning and executing railway projects.

It has been more than a month since the Union Budget was presented, which also included the outlay for Indian Railways. Ever since, South Central Railway (SCR) has been waiting for the Railway Board to release or upload the ‘Pink Book’ as there has been an unusual delay this year.

The ‘Pink Book’ indicates the precise details of new services, works, funds allocation etc., for zones across the country. Top officials, pleading anonymity, state that the ‘Pink Book’ is the ‘official mandate’ indicating the priority works and what exactly is happening on the ground, whether in safety-related or infrastructure projects in midst of heavy-duty announcements made by the ministry.

Usually, these details are uploaded on the official website and shared with the respective zones as soon as the budget is presented, upon which the general managers concerned will decide the working mode plan for the next financial year of 2025-26. Yet, details have not percolated thus far this year.

“There has been a delay this year, but no reason is being assigned for the same. Railway Board officials have only been stating that the ‘Pink Book’ will be released soon,” informed senior railway officials. Since railway budget proposals will come into effect from April 1 onwards, they reckon the details will be released before March 31.

A few officials find this “unusual delay” baffling and attribute it to the merger of railway budget with the union budget. “Earlier, the ‘Pink Book’ was shared within no time. However, ever since separate railway budget was dispensed with, it is not happening. Everyone looks up to the Pink Book for the roadmap ahead because the Finance Minister does not provide details about the railways in her speech,” said another official.

It is pointed out that the ‘Pink Book’ is the official mandate based on which Railway Board does appropriation of funds, finance vetting and funds release under various sections. Although Railway Board does not micro-manage the functioning of the zonal railways through it, proposals submitted by various GMs could be tweaked looking at the overall scenario and allocations made for each region.

The zonal GMs do have the leeway to make a few changes to take up certain key works like doubling works or those requiring the last-stretch push by sanctioning funds to complete a project or clear generated bills for the period. “We do lot of forecasting in the budget proposals for a mammoth organisation like the railways. It will be followed by revised estimates and grants during the course of the year. The ‘Pink Book’ set the tone for the financial year ahead,” added senior officials.