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NO INCREASE IN PASSENGER FARE AND FREIGHT TARIFF
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BUDGET TO HAVE INCLUSIVE GROWTH AND EXPANSION OF RAILWAY NETWORK TO EVERY CORNER OF THE
COUNTRY
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PLAN OUTLAY OF RS.40,745 CR. PROPOSED FOR 2009-2010,
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PASSENGER AMENITIES GET HIGH PRIORITY, TO GET 119% INCREASE
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TRAFFIC RECEIPTS DURING 2008-09 INCREASE BY
11.4 % WHILE FREIGHT LOADING GREW @ 5%
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SPECIAL TRAINS FOR PERISHABLE FARM PRODUCE, FACILITIES FOR TRANSPORTATION OF RURAL CRAFT
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WORKS FOR 7 NEW LINES, GAUGE CONVERSION OF 17 LINES AND DOUBLING OF 13 LINES TO BE TAKEN UP
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FASTER PARCEL SERVICES PROPOSED ON THREE
ROUTES
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TATKAL SCHEME TO BE MADE PASSENGER FRIENDLY
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RAILWAY TICKETS TO BE MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH POST OFFICES AND ‘MUSHKIL AASAAN’ MOBILE VANS
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CONCESSION FOR PRESS PERSONS INCREASED TO 50%
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MONTHLY TICKET OF RS. 25/- FOR UNORGANIZED SECTOR/POOR UNDER ‘IZZAT’ SCHEME
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“ONLY LADIES’ EMU TRAINS AT DELHI, KOLKATA AND CHENNAI
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‘YUVA TRAINS’ FROM RURAL HINTERLAND TO METROS AT CONCESSIONAL FARE
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12 NEW POINT-TO-POINT ‘DURANTO’ TRAINS
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57 NEW TRAINS, EXTENSION OF 27 TRAINS AND INCREASE IN FREQUENCY OF 13 TRAINS AND
AIR-CONDITIONED DOUBLE-DECKER TRAINS PROPOSED
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50 STATIONS TO BE UPGRADED TO WORLD CLASS STATIONS
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LONG DISTANCE TRAINS TO HAVE ON-BOARD DOCTORS AND INFOTAINMENT SERVICES
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HANDICAPPED AND AGED PERSONS TO HAVE MORE
AMENITIES
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SPECIAL
FUND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NORTH EAST RAILWAY
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QUAZIGUND-ANANTNAG LINE TO BE COMPLETED BY NEXT MONTH
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6560 RAILWAY STAFF QUARTERS TO BE CONSTRUCTED AND GROUP ‘D’ EMPLOYEES TO GET SCHOLARSHIPS FOR
THEIR GIRL CHILD
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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.
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MKP/NC/VK
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Summary: Highlights of Railway Budget – 2009-2010
