Highlights for Day 42 of Narendra Modi government Development Work
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- Last Updated: Thursday, 22 January 2015 21:00
Highlights for Day 42 of Narendra Modi government Development Work
Click here to see Narendra Modi 100 Days Agenda
Maiden Budget of Modi to Be Presented its 1st Rail Budget today,
Newly elected Narendra Modi government will unveil its first Railway Budget on Tuesday. High-speed trains, world-class stations and safe journeys are likely to be the government's top priorities.
The high-profile Golden Quadri-lateral rail network-linking the four metro cities-might be important highlights of the budget. Running semi-high-speed trains on select routes is likely to be an item of immediate implementation.
Even before he presented his maiden budget, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda made waves with a 14 per cent hike in passenger fares across the country. However, the government has passed the buck on its predecessor UPA government for the rail price hike.
"The earlier government made this plan of tackling the losses but they did not implement it. This was even calculated in the earlier budget and consulted with the former PM but later stayed the order. How can they come out and claim that this government is doing something wrong," Gowda questioned.
The government is also facing pressure from allies who are forcing a partial rollback but the freight fare hike of 6.5 per cent remains unchanged.
According to experts, the first big challenge for the railways is to ensure that a constant increase in freight fares does not take the loads off tracks. "Freights are becoming expensive. There has to be a balance between freight and passenger fares and get dedicated freight corridor in place soon," Former chairman of railway board JP Batra said.
There is also a collective voice that railways must control staff strength based on activity costs and needs and decentralize managerial control to railway zones and divisions. Experts also feel that there is a need to allocate budget for adequate asset renewal for safety needs. "There is a need to review the role of railway board, it's archaic," former additional member railway board Sumant Chak said.
With two major accidents within a month of the new government taking over, safety continues to be a major grey area. Passenger safety is caught between clash of technology, clash of interests and political lethargy.
Systems like anti collision devices are also in a limbo. Railway has spent Rs 50 crores to develop anti-collision devices since 2006. In December 2013, the former railway ministry told Parliament that a new improved softwear version had been developed by Konkan Railway which was under evaluation
Will try to meet people's expectations, Gowda on unveiling his first budget
Ahead of presenting his maiden budget, Railway Minister DV Sadananda Gowda said that the government seeks to take effective steps to make the railways people friendly.
"Everyone has a mobile, they are on social networks, using internet, and therefore we want to promote the discussion of railways on the internet. We want to directly link people with railways. The Minister of Railways on Monday launched a new social media application for the ministry. As soon as the Railway Budget is presented in Parliament, it will be available on the application and also on Twitter account and Facebook.
Gowda also said that the government will try to give the people what they want. "The common people want improvement in passenger amenities. They are hoping that with the fare hike, there amenities will improve. We will try to provide them what they need," he said.
Will seek FDI in railway network and push for private Investment
The bulk of India's future railway projects will be financed through public-private partnerships, the country's railways minister said on Tuesday, in a bid to renew the vast but underfunded network.
In his maiden budget, Sadananda Gowda said his ministry would also seek cabinet approval for allowing forigen direct investment in the state-owned network, but passenger services would be excluded.
India's railway, the world's fourth-largest, has suffered from years of low investment and populist policies to subsidize fares. This has turned a once-mighty system into a slow and congested network that crimps economic growth The decision to push private investment signals the appetite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new government has for taking tough and unpopular decisions he has said are needed to revive the economy.
Reform of the railways has long proven politically sensitive. Successive governments have backed away from modernization, preferring instead to use the system to provide cheap transport for voters, and jobs for 1.3 million people.
Railway minister lists four new ways to drum up capital
According to Gowda, the cash-strapped railways will mobilize resources for infrastructure creation and up gradation through the funds of the railways' state-run public sector companies (PSUs).
The minister further said that large private investments, including foreign funds, will be attracted into the sector.
The fund inflows for modernization of railway infrastructure will also be generated through promoting public-private partnership (PPP) models.
The minister added that a planned tax holiday scheme which will incentivize investments for railways projects that have a long gestation period will also be promoted. Currently, the Indian Railways is facing a huge cash crunch of Rs.26,000 crore amidst a decline in growth in passenger earnings.
Rail Budget Presented focus on security, facilities, bullet & high-speed trains
Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda announced a slew of new measures including the much-hyped bullet train in the maiden Railway Budget of the Narendra Modi government. Emphasizing on passengers' safety, amenities and new facilities, Gowda also endorsed last month's fare hike on Tuesday saying it was tough, but necessary to improve Railways' health.
He justified the hike saying the expenditure on several things including amenities, hygiene and safety is such that the fares have to be hiked for getting the Railways back on track. Private investment, bullet train, Diamond Quadrilateral of high-speed trains, and modern facilities were some of the highlights of Gowda's rail budget.
Gowda announced a bullet train and high speed trains between major stations. While the bullet train has been proposed on the Mumbai-Ahmadabad route, he also announced high speed trains on 9 routes including Delhi-Agra, Delhi-Chandigarh, Delhi-Kanpur, Kanpur-Nagpur and Mysore-Bangalore-Chennai with an increased speed of 200 kmph. He announced the formation of a Diamond Quadrilateral network of high speed trains between the metros.
Just like his predecessors, Gowda also introduced many new trains. The already burdened network will run 58 new trains including 5 Jansadharan, 5 Premium, 6 AC, 27 Express, 8 Passenger, 2 MEMU and 5 DEMU trains and 11 train extensions. In addition, he also proposed rail connectivity to 'chaar dham' in Uttarakhand, saying rail network to Kedarnath and Badrinath has been explored.
Focusing on security he said RPF personnel will be deployed on stations and trains. Gowda said these would include 4,000 women RPF personnel to ensure the safety of women passengers. He said the women RPF personnel will be deployed in women coaches of trains.
He also stressed upon the need for private investment in the railways focusing on the Public-Private Partnership model. Gowda also proposed foreign direct investment in all other sectors in the Railways except for operations.
Today’s railway budget is reflection of modern India MODI
Complimenting his government's first Railway Budget, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the budget is a forward-looking 'growth engine' and will promote transparency and integrity. He said that it keeps in mind the development of India. "We can see great use of technology. The basis for a modern India is reflected in the budget," Modi said.
Modi also said that Railway is the growth engine of development of India. "The budget gives emphasis to institutionalization and emphasizes on integrity," he said.
He claimed that for the first time the overall development has been looked at while making the Railway Budget. "The Railway Budget intends to make the sector more modern, give more facilities to Indians. Rail Budget shows the important role of Railways in India's development journey. This Budget shows where we want to take the railways and at the same time where we want to take India through the railways," Modi said.
Railway reservations to be overhauled through e-ticketing
The Indian Railways' reservation system will be overhauled through e-ticketing system, Railway Minister Sadanand Gowda said on Tuesday, presenting the railway budget for 2014-15 in parliament. "We will allow 120,000 users to simultaneously book online", Gowda said after he began his budget presentation quoting the philosophy of Kautilya about the happiness of the ruler lying "in the happiness of the people." The proposed overhaul of the e-ticketing systems would support 7,200 tickets per minute as against the current 2,000 tickets per minute, Gowda said. Expanding the scope of online booking, the railway minister announced that the facility of online booking of railway retiring rooms would also be made available. Automated ticket machines will be tried out, Gowda further said. Indian railways run 125,000 trains including for freight.
--Written by Aadil Mir--With additional inputs from agencies