Lalu against IT, the Income Tax, not Information Technology

New Delhi, Jun 25 (UNI) For Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, the term 'IT' has a double connotation -- Information Technology and Income Tax.

''I have been maligned both inside the country and outside for my opposition to IT. But my opposition to IT was to express my disgust against those who have foisted false Income Tax cases against me,'' he told reporters on the sidelines of a NASSCOM IT User Awards function here.

Mr Prasad, who was in his elements, said a reporter in Patna had sought his comment on IT. ''I merely asked what IT, and the journalist was quick to send a despatch to his paper that I am opposed to IT.'' The minister said the reporter was ambiguous on the full form of the the term IT. ''He was thinking in terms of Information Technology while I was referring to Income Tax,'' he said, in a joucular vein.

''Journalists should ask questions with a sense of clarity,'' he said.

Mr Prasad, otherwise, sang an elaborate paean to the IT companies for ushering in tremendous changes in the lives of common people.

''Now even a streetside vegetable vendor or a rickshaw puller can afford a mobile. I find it a miracle from IT companies,'' he said.

He also exhorted them to forge a constructive bonding with the Railways, which offered enormous opportunities for IT applications.

UNI