No Hike In Passenger Fare And
Freight Rates
Highest Ever Plan Outlay Of Rs.
57,630 Crore Proposed
56 NEW EXPRESS TRAINS, 3 NEW SHATABDIS AND 9 DURONTO
TRAINS TO BE INTRODUCED
A NEW E-TICKETING PORTAL WITH CHEAPER BOOKING CHARGES
TO BE LAUNCHED
ANTI COLLISION DEVISE TO COVER EIGHT ZONAL RAILWAYS
ALL INDIA
SECURITY HELPLINE ON A SINGLE NUMBER
10,000 SHELTER UNITS FOR TRACK SIDE DWELLERS TO BE
CONSTRUCTED
‘PRADHAN MANTRI RAIL VIKAS YOJANA’ FOR SOICALLY
DESIRABLE PROJECTS WITH NON-LAPSABLE FUND
SCHOLARSHIP FOR GIRL CHILD OF GROUP D EMPLOYEES
INCREASED TO RS. 1200/-
GROSS TRAFFIC RECEIPTS TO CROSS THE MARK OF ONE LAKH
CRORE
No hike in the passenger fare and freight rate has been proposed in
the Railway Budget 2011-12. The Budget with highest ever plan outlay of Rs.
57,630 crore will have Rs. 9,583 crore
for new railway lines and significant funds for passenger amenities.
Presenting the Railway Budget in Parliament today the Minister for
Railways, Mamata Banerjee, announced a number
of new initiatives including expansion of railway network, modernization of
safety and security and welfare of railway employees.
Proposing highest ever plan
outlay of Rs. 57,630 crore the Railway Minister said
that it will be financed through Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) of Rs. 20,000 crore, diesel cess of Rs. 1,041 crore, internal resources of Rs. 14,219 crore
and market borrowings of Rs. 20,594 crore. She said that external source of financing
through Public Private Partnership (PPP), Wagon Investment Scheme (WIS) etc is
expected to yield Rs. 1,776 crore.
Reiterating her commitment to the expansion of the rail network the
Minister of Railways proposed an allocation of Rs. 9,583 crore
for new lines, Rs. 5,406 crore for doubling the lines
and Rs. 2,470 crore for gauge conversion projects. To
overcome shortages in wagons, coaches and locomotives, Rs. 13,820 crore has been earmarked for acquisition of rolling stock. She
proposed introduction of 56 new Express Trains, 3 new Shatabdis
and 9 new Duronto Trains during 2011-12, besides 47
additional suburban services in Mumbai and 50 new suburban services for
Kolkata. AC double-decker services will be introduced on Jaipur-Delhi
and Ahmedabad-Mumbai.
Services of 33 trains will be extended while frequency of 17 trains will
be extended. 107 new line surveys will
also be taken up during the year.
The Minister also proposed to set up additional mechanized laundry
units at Nagpur, Chandhigarh
and Bhopal for improving the quality of linen in
trains and 700 MW gas-based power plant at Thakurli in Maharashtra
for energy requirement of the Railways. She said that 18,000 Wagons will be
procured during 2011-12 for better freight management.
As a unique initiative for the welfare of the poor the Minister
proposed construction of 10,000 shelter units for track side dwellers in
Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri, Tiruchirapalli on pilot basis.
The Minister proposed extension of concessions for physically
handicapped persons in Rajadhani and Shatabdi Trains. Now
Press correspondents will also be entitled to avail 50 % concession with family
twice in a year instead once in a year. At present the concession for senior
citizens is extended to both men and women at 60 years of age, the Railway
Minister proposed to reduce the age to 58 years in the case of women, besides
increasing senior citizens concession from 30% to 40%.
Declaring that one of the main objectives of her ministry is to
bring social revolution to rail connectivity, the Railway Minister proposed a
non-lapsable fund for socially desirable projects under the name of ‘Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana’. She also proposed an increase of Rs. 771 crore to connect the underdeveloped areas of Orissa,
Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Bihar and Maharashtra
through rail network. A non-lapsable
Fund for Railway projects in the northeast region has also been proposed and all the
state capitals of the region except Sikkim will be connected by railway
network in the next seven years.
Stating that safety is the first priority of the Railways, the
Railway Minister said that Anti Collision device (ACD) will be deployed on more
routes, now it will cover 8 zonal railways.
Expressing concern over loss of rail properties during various
agitations in recent past, she announced that the States which will ensure
trouble-free train running for the whole year will be awarded with two new
trains and two projects as a special package.
Declaring 2011-12 as a ‘Year of Green Energy’ for Railways the
Minister proposed free supply of 14 lakh CFLs to
railway households, increase use of solar energy at LC gates, stations etc.,
use of bio-diesel, CNG and LNG in locomotives.
Highlighting the efforts being made to improve the amenities and to
provide better experience to the passengers at stations the Minister said that
236 more stations will be upgraded as Adarsh
Stations. A Multi-purpose pan-India
smart card “Go India” will be introduced very soon to provide single window
package for seamlessly pay for tickets for long distance, suburban, metro
traveling. The passengers can use this
card at booking counters, vending machines, internet etc. Besides this a new
portal for e-ticketing will be launched shortly. Booking of tickets through this portal would
be cheaper with a charge of only Rs. 10 for AC classes and Rs. 5 for others. The Minister also proposed a new Super AC
class of travel with improved comfort and features and more exclusively. A
feasibility study would be undertaken to increase the speed of passenger trains
to 160-200 kmph with the help from Japan, she
said.
Announcing the measures for the welfare of railway employees, the
Minister proposed extension of medical facilities to dependent parents,
increase in the scholarship for the girl child of gangmen
and group ‘D’ employees to Rs. 1,200 per month for higher education, 20 new
hostels for children of railway employees and restructuring of all the cadres
to provide adequate promotional opportunities.
She also proposed a separate sports cadre for railway employees.
Highlighting the efforts being made for the recruitment of staff in railway the Minister said that 1.75 lakh posts in Group ‘C’ and ‘D’ are being filled up and
steps have been taken to fill up about 13,000 posts in Railway Protection
Force. These mega recruitment drives
will cover the backlog of SC/ST/physically handicapped quota. She also announced that the railways is inducting 16,000 ex-servicemen by end of March
2011.
Stating that the Indian Railways is passing through difficult
financial phase she said that, 6th Pay Commission’s Recommendations
have heavily impacted internal resource generation of the Railways. Disruption
of train movements during 2010-11 resulted in a loss of about Rs.1,500 crore and another Rs. 2000 crore
due to the ban on export of iron ore. As a result, the loading target had to be
reduced by 20 million tonnes to 924 million tonnes. However, in the revised estimates, goods earnings
have been retained at the budget level based on trends of higher yield per Net Tonne Kilometer (NTKM). The total gross earnings have now
been fixed at Rs. 94,742 crore which is Rs. 177 crore higher than the budget. With the reduced traffic
suspense clearance of Rs. 98 crore , Gross Traffic Receipts is higher than the budget target
by Rs. 75 crore at Rs. 94,840 crore.
On the basis of freight traffic projection of 993 million tonnes and passenger growth of 6.4% the Minister said that
the Gross Traffic Receipts are estimated at Rs. 1,06,239
crore during 2010-11 which will cross the one lakh crore mark for the first
time. While Working Expenses are estimated at Rs. 96,450 crore.
DNM/NCJ/VN