With 50 pc rebate, Azadi Exp begins its journey today

After months of bickering with Culture and I&B ministries, the Indian Railways has finally decided to give a 50-per cent concession on haulage,

After months of bickering with Culture and I&B ministries, the Indian Railways has finally decided to give a 50-per cent concession on haulage, detention and operating charges of the 16-coach train that would carry the message of the First War of Independence in 1857 and freedom movement to 70 cities across the country. Christened Azadi Express, the train will be flagged off by HRD Minister Arjun Singh on Friday from Delhi’s Safdarjung station.

The concession means that the cost of operating the exhibition train for a seven-and-a-half month period (the train ends its journey on May 15 at Delhi’s Safdarjung station), now comes down to Rs 5.5 crore from the Rs 11 crore estimate earlier given to the National Implementation Committee (NIC) by the Railways.

Railway sources said the concession was sanctioned at the ministerial level with Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav according the approval.

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Originally slated for flag-off on August 15, the train was scheduled to travel for almost nine months covering 60 cities before coming back to Delhi. However, a tussle between the I&B and Culture ministries on one side and the Railways on the other over the charges being sought by the latter ensured that the rake could not be readied in time. September 28, the birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh, was later decided as the flag-off date.

According to the original plan, Meerut City, 1857’s epicenter, was to be the train’s first halt. According to the revised itinerary, the train would now first go to Porbander, Sabarmati, Vadodara and Gandhinagar on its first leg so as to coincide with Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary.

Eleven out of the 16 coaches would be used for exhibition purposes while the remaining would house Government staff and their luggage.

At each destination, the train will stop to allow the public to view the exhibition that recreates the patriotism of the pre-independence days with photographs, diaroma, cut-outs, scrollers and videos.

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The exhibition will not only chronicle 150 years since 1857 but also various social movements like the indigo farmers issue, Champaran incidents, the rise of the nationalist press, patriotic literature, Bhoodan Movement of Acharya Vinoba Bhave and anticipation of the medium.