Rail Budget:
Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu said that core objective is to become an engine of employment generation and economic growth at national level. Minister proposed No changes in passenger fares and freight rates. He said Railway will generate 9 crore man-days employment by 2017-18 and 14 crore man-days by 2018-19.
The minister has announced an increase in seat quota; 50% up for senior citizens. Railways will increase the quota of lower berths for women and senior citizens. 33 per cent sub-quota for women will be provided under all reserved categories.
Over 65,000 additional berths, wi-fi services at 100 stations, improvement in passenger amenities including cleanliness, make rail a safer means of travel specially for women are some of the highlights of this year’s Railway Budget 2016-17.
The other highlights include bringing all major stations of the country under CCTV surveillance in a phased manner, e-ticketing facility to foreign debit and credit cards for foreign tourists and NRIs and making Railways financially self sustainable.
Presenting his second rail budget to Parliament today, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu said ‘Reorganise, Restructure and Rejuvenate’ are the three key mantras for his ministry.
Proposing a plan size of one lakh twenty one thousand crore rupees in 2016-17, Mr Prabhu said by 2020, long felt desires of the common man are to be fulfilled. They are reserved accommodation on trains availability on demand, time tabled freight trains and high end technology to improve safety record among others.
Saying cooperation, collaboration, creativity and communication are the hallmarks of Railways decision-making, Mr Prabhu said Antyodaya Express fully unreserved superfast train service for the common man to be operated on dense routes. He said two to four Deen Dayalu coaches in some long distance trains for unreserved travel to enhance carrying capacity. In another milestone for the Railways, the minister said Tejas trains will operate at speeds of 130 kilometre and above.
He said time-tabled freight container, parcel and special commodity trains on a pilot basis and container sector would be opened to all traffic barring coal. The minister proposed to develop Rail side logistics parks and warehousing in PPP mode.
Mr Prabhu said 10 good sheds will be developed in 2016-17. Announcing amidst thumping of desks by the treasury benches , Mr Prabhu said country’s first rail auto hub in Chennai will be inaugurated soon. He also announced to encourage development of cold storage facilities on vacant land near freight terminals.
The minister announced introduction of overnight double decker trains on busiest routes, which has the potential to increase carrying capacity by almost 40 per cent. He said in the next year, 2,800 kilometres Broad Gauge lines will be commissioned.
Giving emphasis on better connectivity to North Eastern States, the minister said Mizoram and Manipur are set to come on the Broad Gauge map of the country soon with commissioning of the kathakal-Bhairabi and Arunachal- Jiribam Gauge conversion projects. He said the decongestion work on the Jalandhar-Jammu line is going on in full swing.
In the line of Prime Minister’s emphasis on Make in India, Mr Prabhu said Railways will be able to finalise the bids for setting up two loco factories at a worth of 40,000 crore rupees. The minister said world’s first Bio Vacuum toilet was developed by the Railways and is being used in Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express.
The minister said rail travel will be more comfortable with installation of 2,500 water vending machines, introduction of 1,780 automatic ticket vending machines and enhancing capacity of e-ticketing system from 2,000 tickets per minute to 7,200 tickets per minute.
For differently abled-people, Mr Prabhu said online booking of wheelchairs and Braille enabled new coaches has already been introduced. Giving top priority to safety, the minister said over 1,000 unmanned level crossings have been eliminated.
He proposed to take up North-South freight corridors connecting Delhi to Chennai, East-West connecting Kharagpur to Mumbai and East Coast freight corridors from Kharagpur to Vijayawada through innovative financing model including public private partnership (PPP).
He said during 2016-17, ports of Nargol and Hazira will be connected by rail. Highlighting social initiatives undertaken by his ministry, Mr Prabhu said there will be a tie up with Health ministry to introduce AYUSH systems in 5 railway hospitals. He said gang men will be intimated about approaching trains with a device called Rakshak.
Announcing several new measures by his ministry, Mr Prabhu said a sum of 50 crore rupees has been set aside for providing innovation grants to employees, startups and small businesses. The minister proposed to reorganise the Railway Board along business lines suitably empowering Railway board chairman. To enable fair pricing of services, promote competition and protect customer interests, Mr Prabhu said a draft bill to set up Rail Development Authority, will be ready after holding extensive consultations with stakeholder.
Mr Prabhu said his ministry is making all out efforts to translate Prime Minister’s vision into reality with the core objective to improve the quality of customer experience, become an engine of employment generation, economic growth at the national level and convert India’s largest institution into a template for transformation. The minister announced setting up a Rail university at Vadodara. He announced to take up on priority the provision of passenger amenities and beautification on stations at pilgrimage centres including Ajmer, Dwarka, Gaya, Puri, Varanasi and Parasnath.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the Rail budget will enhance in rebuilding the nation. Congratulating Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu and the entire team behind the Rail Budget, Mr Modi said, along with IT, investment has been given importance. He said, last year’s Rail budget had seen a lot of success and this budget is an effort to further improve on it.
Prime Minister said this is futuristic budget. Starting of Antyodaya express and Dindayal Express reflects government’s commitment towards poors. He said railway Minister has taken significant steps towards more rail connectivity in North-eastern states.
BJP leader and union Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy termed it as reformist. Talking to AIR, Mr Rudy said, there was no additional burden on passengers. He said it will fulfill aspirations of common man. Mr Rudy said through the rail budget, the government will make efforts to modernize railways along with best and affordable services to the people. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu said the budget is practical realistic and people friendly.
Opposition parties have termed the Rail Budget as disappointing. Congress leader and former Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge said the budget did not talk about the safety of passengers. He said the budget does not provide adequate facilities to the passengers.
When asked that the Railway Minister spared people from freight and fare hike, Mr Kharge said the government may have done this keeping in view the upcoming elections for several State Assemblies. CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury told AIR that there is nothing new in the budget and it is not people friendly.
CPI leader D Raja said that there is nothing on expected lines in the budget and gives nothing in terms of passenger safety and civic amenities. TMC leader and former Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi also termed it as disappointing.
Mr Trivedi said there is no clarity about allocation of funds in different areas. He said, it did not state about the achievements in terms of set target of pervious year. RJD leader Jaiprakash Narayan Yadav echoed similar views. He alleged the budged has ignored States like Bihar.
BJP President Amit Shah has commended the Rail Budget saying that it is a comprehensive one covering all sections of the society. Briefing media in New Delhi today, Mr Shah said, this passenger friendly and growth oriented budget is another significant milestone in journey of transformation of the Indian Railways. He said, it is a budget for the common man and it is the second budget in a row when fares have not been hiked. He said, Wi-Fi and FM Radio in Train is commendable step. Mr Shah said, special emphasis has been given to senior citizen, women and youth in this rail budget.
POST RAILWAY BUDGET PRESS CONFERENCE
POST RAILWAY BUDGET PRESS CONFERENCE
Dear Sir/Madam,
You are requested to kindly cover the following event
Event : Joint Press Conference by Chairman Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital and other Railway Board Members.
Time : 3:15 PM to 4:00 PM
Date : 25th February 2016 (Thursday)
Venue : Conference Hall, 2nd Floor, Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,
(Anil Kumar Saxena)
Dear Sir/Madam,
You are requested to kindly cover the following event
Event : Joint Press Conference by Chairman Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital and other Railway Board Members.
Time : 3:15 PM to 4:00 PM
Date : 25th February 2016 (Thursday)
Venue : Conference Hall, 2nd Floor, Rail Bhawan, New Delhi.
With warm regards,
Yours sincerely,
(Anil Kumar Saxena)
Economic Survey 2015-16 as per the following schedule:
INVITATION
Dear Sir/Madam,
Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance will address a Press Conference tomorrow, 26th February, 2016 regarding Economic Survey 2015-16 as per the following schedule:
Date: 26th February, 2016 (Friday)
Time: 3.00 p.m.
Venue: Conference Hall, National Media Centre, 7E, Raisina Road, New Delhi.
You are requested to depute ONLY your PIB Accredited Correspondent/Reporter and Still Photographer/Cameraperson for the coverage of the aforesaid event.
With regards,
Dear Sir/Madam,
Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser, Ministry of Finance will address a Press Conference tomorrow, 26th February, 2016 regarding Economic Survey 2015-16 as per the following schedule:
Date: 26th February, 2016 (Friday)
Time: 3.00 p.m.
Venue: Conference Hall, National Media Centre, 7E, Raisina Road, New Delhi.
You are requested to depute ONLY your PIB Accredited Correspondent/Reporter and Still Photographer/Cameraperson for the coverage of the aforesaid event.
With regards,
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