A committed appointed by the railway ministry has recommended the levy of a cess on passenger tickets, among others, in order to raise a minimum of Rs 20,000 crores per year for five years (Rs 1 lakh crore) for the purpose of a fund that will take care of all safety-related aspects of the Indian Railways.

“The principal instrument for annual inflow in the safety fund will be a safety surcharge to be levied on every passenger ticket,” read a recommendation by the panel chaired by Dr Anil Kakodkar, former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, which submitted its report to railway minister Dinesh Trivedi on Friday.

The panel proposed a safety cess of Rs3 per ticket for suburban passengers, Rs6 per passenger for non-suburban unreserved tickets, Rs 10 per ticket for reserved sleeper class, Rs20 per ticket for AC sleeper/AC chair-car, Rs30 per ticket for AC sleeper, and for AC First Rs50 per ticket.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Dr Kakodkar, Mr Trivedi was quick to clarify that the levy of cess was the committee’s suggestion; the railway ministry, he insisted, had not decided on accepting the recommendation yet.

While acknowledging that there were other ways to generate funds, Mr Trivedi voiced a fear that the railways could 'go Air India’s way' if the Central government does not 'consider to help railways' with a bailout package.