Re: Railway Budget.......Highlights......

On Fri, Jul 3, 2009 at 1:49 PM, PIB Calcutta <pib.calcutta@gmail.com> wrote:

Press Information Bureau
Government of India
* * * * * *
Ministry of Railways                                                      RAILWAY BUDGET 2009-10
Summary: Highlights of Railway Budget – 2009-2010
New Delhi: July 3, 2009

Ø       NO INCREASE IN PASSENGER FARE AND FREIGHT TARIFF

Ø       BUDGET TO HAVE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF RAILWAY
NETWORK TO EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY

Ø       PLAN OUTLAY OF RS.40,745 CR. PROPOSED FOR 2009-2010,

Ø       PASSENGER AMENITIES GET HIGH PRIORITY, TO GET 119% INCREASE

Ø       TRAFFIC RECEIPTS DURING 2008-09 INCREASE BY 11.4 % WHILE
FREIGHT LOADING GREW @ 5%

Ø       SPECIAL TRAINS FOR PERISHABLE FARM PRODUCE, FACILITIES FOR
TRANSPORTATION OF RURAL CRAFT

Ø       WORKS FOR 7 NEW LINES,  GAUGE CONVERSION OF 17 LINES AND
DOUBLING OF 13 LINES TO BE TAKEN UP

Ø       FASTER PARCEL SERVICES PROPOSED ON THREE ROUTS

Ø       TATKAL SCHEME TO BE MADE PASSENGER FRIENDLY

Ø       RAILWAY TICKETS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH POST OFFICES AND
'MUSHKIL AASAAN'  MOBILE VANS

Ø       CONCESSION FOR PRESS PERSONS INCREASED TO 50%

Ø       MONTHLY TICKET OF RS. 25/- FOR UNORGANIZED SECTOR/POOR UNDER
'IZZAT' SCHEME

Ø       "ONLY LADIES' EMU TRAINS AT DELHI, KOLKATA AND CHENNAI

Ø       'YUVA TRAINS' FROM RURAL HINTERLAND TO METROS AT CONCESSIONAL FARE

Ø       12 NEW POINT-TO-POINT 'DURANTO' TRAINS

Ø       57 NEW TRAINS, EXTENSION OF 27 TRAINS AND INCREASE IN
FREQUENCY OF 13 TRAINS AND AIR-CONDITIONED DOUBLE-DECKER TRAINS
PROPOSED

Ø       50 STATIONS TO BE UPGRADED TO WORLD CLASS STATIONS

Ø       LONG DISTANCE TRAINS TO HAVE ON-BOARD DOCTORS AND INFOTAINMENT SERVICES

Ø       HANDICAPPED AND AGED PERSONS TO HAVE MORE AMENITIES

Ø       SPECIAL TRAINS TO FERRY PERISHABLE AGRO PRODUCTS AND RURAL HANDICRAFTS

Ø       SPECIAL FUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EAST RAILWAY

Ø       QUAZIGUND-ANANTNAG LINE TO BE COMPLETED BY NEXT MONTH

Ø       6560 RAILWAY STAFF QUARTERS TO BE CONSTRUCTED AND GROUP 'D'
EMPLOYEES TO GET SCHOLARSHIPS FOR THEIR GIRL CHILD

Ø       RAILWAYS TO COME OUT WITH WHILE PAPER ON FINANCIAL STATUS AND
VISION-2020 DOCUMENT

Presenting the Railway Budget for 2009-10 in Parliament today,
Minister of Railways Kumari Mamata Banerjee announced  that there will
be no increase in passenger fare and freight tariff. She said that the
budget will have approach for 'inclusive growth' and expansion of rail
network to take development to every corner of the country.

Presenting the railway budget she proposed an outlay of Rs,.40,745 cr.
for 2009-10.  Out of this, Rs.2,921 cr. will be spent on new lines,
Rs.1,750 cr. on gauge conversion and Rs.1,102 cr. on passenger
amenities, which is 119% more than the allocation in the interim
budget.  Rs.424 cr. will also be spent on railway staff amenities. She
proposed freight loading target of 882 MT and estimated gross freight
receipt at Rs.88,419 cr.

Giving an overview of financial performance of the Railways in
2008-09, the Minister informed that freight loading during the period
grew by 5 percent while traffic receipt increased by 11.4 per cent to
reach Rs. 79,862 cr.

The Budget has proposals for 7 new lines, Gauge conversion of 17 lines
and doubling of 13  railway lines. In addition, proposals for 53 new
lines, 3 gauge conversion and doubling of 12 lines will be processed
during the year.

Proposing revision in Tatkal Scheme to make it more passenger
friendly, the Railway Minister  said that both the advance booking
time and  minimum charge will be reduced. She said perceptible
improvement will be ensured in passenger amenities and safety and
security will be given utmost importance.  Cleanliness and quality of
railway catering will be improved with focus on strict monitoring. She
proposed that ticketing facilities will be taken to the grassroot
level. Under the  'Maa Mati Manush' initiative, computerized  tickets
will  also be made available through Post Offices. Mobile ticketing
vans,   'Mushkil Aasaan',  will also be introduced to provide services
in remote areas.

Timely track renewal, modernization of signals and use of digital
ultrasonic flaw detectors will be introduced for the safety of the
passengers besides Integrated Security Scheme at 140  vulnerable and
sensitive stations. Women RPF Squads, exclusively for women
passengers, will also be introduced.

Kumari Mamata Banerjee announced a new scheme "Izzat" for travel with
dignity. Under this scheme the people in unorganized sector with
monthly income upto Rs.1,500/- can avail concessional monthly season
ticket  of Rs.25/- for travel upto 100 k.m.

The existing student concession is  to be extended to   students of
Madrasas and  students in Kolkata will now have the  MST facilities
for  Kolkata Metro also.

To provide  relief to women passengers the Minister proposed 'only
ladies' EMU trains in Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata suburban during rush
hours. She also announced new 'Yuva trains' dedicated to young
generation  from rural hinterland to major metros  with  concessional
rail fare but with air-conditioned facilities.

Now the Press persons will get increased concession of  50% instead of
existing 30% . Once in a year their spouse can also travel with 50%
concession.

The Railway Minister announced 12 new point to point, non-stop
'Duronto' trains, 57 new train services, extension of 27 trains and
increase in frequency of 13 trains.   The Minister also proposed
introduction of Air-conditioned double decker coaches for inter-city
travel.

Fifty stations will be developed  as world class stations and 375
stations as 'Adarsh Stations' with improved basic amenties.  Multi
functional complexes with shopping facilities, food stalls, budget
hotels  are to be constructed at 50 railway stations, which  serve as
centres of pilgrimage, tourist and industry.

The Minister announced  extensive availability of 'Janata Khana', in
which national and regional cuisines will be ensured. To improve the
cleanliness, the onboard  house keeping scheme (OBHS) will cover 200
additional pairs of trains. The long distance trains will have onboard
availability of doctors and infotainment services. She also proposed
1000 new passenger reservation  locations and  expansion of Unreserved
Ticketing System terminal  from 5000 to 8000, In addition,  automated
ticket vending machines will be installed at 200 large and medium size
stations.

Stressing on the extension of facilities for handicapped persons, the
Railway Minister  said that the Railway will have more ramps, lifts,
escalators and special coaches for physically challenged and aged
persons.

           Reiterating her priority to extend railway services to
farmers, she announced special trains to ferry perishable agro
products like fruits, vegetables and also village handicrafts, cottage
industry and textile products from production clusters to consumer
clusters. She also proposed premium freight service for container
movement with assured transit time and a mega logistic hub alongside
eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. Premium parcel
services with guaranteed transit time on pilot basis will be
introduced on three routes. During 2009-10, Railway would acquire
18,000 new wagons against 11,000 in 2008-09.

           The Minister  announced creation of North-East Rail
Development Fund for timely completion of national projects in the
North Eastern region and said Quazigund-Anantnag new line in Kashmir
will be completed by next month. She also proposed setting up of a new
factory at Kanchrapara-Halisahar for manufacturing rail coaches and
setting up 1000 MW power plant at Adra, in collaboration with Ministry
of Power.

The Railway Minister said that welfare of railway staff will be given
high priority. 6560 staff quarters will be constructed in 2009-10 and
indoor stadia will be developed in major railway divisions and zones.
Increased contribution of Rs.350 per employees to Staff Benefit Fund
will  continue for a year, with Rs.100 per employee for women
empowerment.  Scholarships will be introduced for the higher education
of girl children of  Group 'D' staff. She proposed attached medical
colleges with railway hospitals at 18 locations and one burn unit at
major hospitals. The Minister said the policy on Railway Recruitment
Boards will be reviewed. Special recruitment drives for filling
vacancies of SC and ST and physically handicapped will also be
undertaken.

           Emphasizing on review of projects with social perspective,
Kumari Mamata Banerjee said,  innovative financing will be adopted.
The Railways will come out with White Paper on organizational,
operational and financial status based on the last five years'
performance and develop Vision-2020 with short and long term strategy
and plan of action. She said that a  project monitoring committee will
be set up for developing mechanism to avoid slippage in project
delivery. Special monitoring will be taken up for all National Rail
Projects. She also proposed an expert committee headed by Shri Sam
Pitroda to suggest innovations to utilize optic fibre cable network of
Railways and take information technology to remote areas.

mkp/nc/vk/dk/kol/13:45 hrs.

--
Palash Biswas
Pl Read:
http://nandigramunited.blogspot.com/