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Speech of Kumari Mamata Banerjee
introducing the Railway Budget, 2000-01
on
25th February 2000
Mr. Speaker, Sir,
I rise to present the Budget Estimates for the
year 2000-2001 for the Indian Railways.
Introduction
I deem it to be a rare honour to be able to
present the first Railway Budget on the threshold of a new millennium. Let me avail myself
of this opportunity to convey on behalf of the Railway family and on my own behalf, our
sincere millennium greetings to you and to the Hon’ble Members of this august House.
I thank, first of all, our respected Prime
Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayeeji for his valued guidance. It is slightly over four
months that I have taken over the responsibility of the Indian Railways, the largest
public transport system in the country. Four months is, perhaps, a short time. But, I
feel, it is long enough to understand the working of an organisation.
Sir, permit me, therefore, to give a brief
overview of where the Indian Railways stand at the dawn of the new century. Growth of the
Railways since inception has directly contributed to the economic and social development
of the nation. Indian Railways having a route length of over sixtytwo thousand eight
hundred kilometers, are the second largest Railway undertaking in the world under a single
management. With 16 lakh employees running 8000 passenger trains and 5500 goods trains
every day, moving 1.36 cr passengers and 12 lakh tonnes of goods daily, Railways are truly
called the ‘lifeline of the nation’. However, today Railways are at a turning
point in their history. There is the opportunity to reach new heights of performance as
well as the chance of a dangerous decline.
Sir, You must excuse me if I sound a little
harsh and sad here. It is a sad fact, Sir, that this magnificent organisation, which has a
strategic value next only to the armed forces; and that is still the dominant part of the
nation’s transport infrastructure, has been allowed to stagnate for last more than
two decades. As you are aware, Sir, the first train in the Indian subcontinent was flagged
off on April 16, 1853, over a small stretch of 34 kilometer between Bombay and Thane. When
India attained freedom in 1947, we had about fiftyfour thousand kilometers of railway
network in the country. Today, on 25th February 2000, the network has a length
of 62,800 route kilometers. Sir, in fiftythree years, independent India has added less
than one fourth of what was built in ninetyfour years of the colonial rule.
Sir, after the capital support from the
General Exchequer reached a peak of 75% in the Fifth Plan, priorities seem to have
suddenly shifted. It fell to 58% in the Sixth Plan and 42% in the Seventh Plan, reaching
an abysmally low level of 18% in the last two years of the Eighth Plan. To fill the gap,
Railways have been driven to large market borrowings. Mainly
because of under-investment over a long
period of time, Railways’ share in freight movement has also dropped from 89% in
1950-51 to about 40% now.
Sir, in this context, I cannot help drawing
an apt analogy, although a sad one. All of us are aware of the significant contribution of
the Indian Railways to the freedom movement and national integration. In fact, we have not
forgotten that the birth of the political career of the Father of the Nation took place on
a railway platform in South Africa when Mahatma Gandhi was thrown off the train because he
was travelling in the first class.
I am sorry to say, Mr. Speaker, Sir, that
somewhere during the journey after independence, Indian Railways have similarly been
thrown off the development train. This happened because successive Governments no longer
considered Railways worthy of being seated in the top priority class of the country’s
development train. However, Sir, I would plead with the House to note that it was only
after having been thrown off the train, that Gandhiji rose to become the Father of the
Nation. I am committed to ensure, Sir, that Indian Railways, similarly, will struggle to
achieve their rightful place in the national developmental scenario.
The time has now come, Sir, when Railways
have to develop a vision for the new millennium. In this short span of four months, we
have worked together to develop this vision which transcends the concerns of the short
term. I will, in the course of my speech,outline this vision in each area of our
operation. I do believe, alongwith sixteen lakh railwaymen, that Indian Railways, with the
new vision, will be firmly placed on the path of speedy growth and resurgence. Railways,
in the new millennium will carry not only passengers and goods as it has done
traditionally in much better ways, but will also carry information on the shoulders of new
technology across the country and beyond. All this will require a lot of change in our
mindset, in our attitudes and in our existing organisational structure. The new vision
will rest on the pillars of much needed reforms, restructuring, innovative models of
funding our developmental plans, innovations in technology and in financing.
Review of Financial Performance During
1998-99
Sir, 1998-99 has been an extremely
difficult year for the Railways. Government’s decision on the Fifth Central Pay
Commission’s recommendations was implemented in that year and in the previous year,
raising expenditure on staff and pension. The recessionary trends in the economy brought
down railways’ freight traffic by 29 million tonnes below target and 9 million tonnes
below the previous year’s level. The overall drop in earnings and the accretion to
dues outstanding reduced the Gross Traffic Receipts of Rs 30,416 cr in the Revised
Estimates to Rs 29,619 cr in actuals. Total Working Expenses, budgeted at Rs 28,411 cr
were contained at Rs 27,835 cr. However, pensionary liabilities at Rs 4,144 cr exceeded
the Revised Estimate of Rs 3,830 cr. The year ended with a draw-down from the Railway Fund
balances to the tune of Rs 2,313 cr instead of Rs 1,313 cr as given in the Revised
Estimate. In view of the shortfall in internal resources, the plan expenditure was
restricted to Rs 8,857 cr from the budgeted level of Rs 9,500 cr. Market borrowings,
however, increased from Rs 2,900 cr in the Budget Estimates to Rs 3217 cr.
Review of Financial Performance
During the Current Year
Sir, I am happy to inform the House that
with overall economic recovery, we are set to achieve our freight loading target of 450
million tonnes. However, the freight earnings are likely to fall short of target by Rs 250
cr due to drop in lead and change in commodity mix. On the other hand, there has been an
impressive growth in Passenger earnings which reached about Rs 7,800 cr by end of January
2000. This marked an increase of Rs 850 cr over previous year’s earnings during the
corresponding period. Other Coaching and Sundry earnings have been quite encouraging and
will enable the Railways to partly offset the shortfall in goods earnings. In Budget
Estimates 1999-2000, a target of Rs 200 cr was kept for clearance of outstanding dues
which the State Electricity Boards / Power Houses owe to the Railways. These dues, Mr.
Speaker, Sir, have, unfortunately, risen to Rs 1,491 cr by the end of November 1999.
Despite the best efforts of the Railways, there has been very little clearance of these
dues. Accordingly, the target of realisation had to be reduced to Rs 75 cr. Thus, the
Gross Traffic Receipts have been scaled down from Rs 33,311 cr to Rs 33,096 cr.
The post-budgetary developments of levy of
cess on diesel oil and increase in the price of diesel oil have substantially increased
the fuel bill of the Railways. Along with this, the retrospective revision of tariff by
some of the State Electricity Boards, higher rates of incentive bonus to the workshop
staff, revision of family planning allowance, damage to Railway property caused by the
Orissa cyclones etc. have put on us an additional financial burden of around Rs 900 cr.
Sir, when I joined office, a very difficult
financial situation awaited me. I felt, in the words of Tagore – " I start on
my journey, with empty hands and expectant heart". In order to overcome these
financial reverses, I had decided, immediately on assuming office, to put in place a
stringent action plan for reduction in expenditure through economy and other austerity
measures. Austerity measures have been taken in areas such as fuel consumption, material
procurement, hospitality, publicity, advertisements, inaugural ceremonies, seminars,
travel and office expenses. I am happy to inform the House that all these measures have
borne substantial gains of approximately Rs 850 cr for us and have helped Railways in
absorbing the additional requirements within the existing grant, with only a small
increase of Rs 50 cr. Accordingly, the Ordinary Working Expenses projected at Rs 25,740 cr
in Budget Estimates 1999-2000 are now placed at Rs 25,790 cr. Pensionary liabilities are
also assessed to go up to Rs 4,094 cr against Budget Estimates of Rs 3,300 cr. This has
adversely affected the internal generation of resources by the Railways and, accordingly,
the Plan expenditure has been re-assessed and kept at Rs 8,965 cr against the budgeted
outlay of Rs 9,700 cr. I would like to assure the House that this reduction in plan
expenditure will not affect any safety related works.
Non-Traditional Sources of Revenues
Sir, as I mentioned earlier, Railways are
passing through a very difficult phase financially. The growth in earnings is not
commensurate with the increase in expenditure for day to day operations and maintenance,
the needs of expansion and safety requirements. Market borrowings, being a relatively
costly proposition cannot be enhanced beyond a limit. While Railways have initiated
several steps to augment earnings and curtail expenditure for increasing the internal
resources, they also intend to raise revenues from other non-traditional sources, as is
done by Railways the world over. Sir, I had constituted a Task Force in this regard,
consisting of representatives of Railways and Industry. The Task Force has recently
submitted its report. The recommendations of the Task Force are now proposed to be
implemented in a time bound manner. They include :
Commercial utilisation of land and air space
Commercial publicity on passenger trains and
at stations
Commercial publicity on freight wagons
Hoardings and billboards at level crossing
gates
Commercial publicity on miscellaneous items
like tickets and consumable items supplied on trains
Hoardings for rural marketing alongside the
tracks
I am happy to announce that Indian Railways
have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Housing and Urban
Development Corporation (HUDCO) which covers several areas of assistance. One important
activity to be taken up by HUDCO will be commercial utilisation of surplus railway lands
in certain corridors. This will provide substantial additional funds to railways for
developmental activities. In the regard, some of the corridors which have already been
identified for this purpose are :
Delhi - Panipat
Kanpur – Lucknow
Bangalore-Mysore
Sealdah-Kalyani
Chandigarh-Ludhiana
Baroda-Ahmedabad
Vishakapatnam-Rajahmundry
Sir, you are well aware that India has been
making rapid strides in information and communication technologies. Indeed, our Prime
Minister has taken an inspiring lead and has defined I.T. as ‘India’s Tomorrow’.
Keeping in line with this vision, Mr. Speaker, Sir, Railways have decided to utilise its
Right of Way (ROW) covering sixty two thousand eight hundred kilometers passing through
more than seven thousand stations, for building a nation-wide broad band telecom and
multimedia network by laying optic fibre cable (OFC). This will not only help in speedily
modernising Railways’ own telecom infrastructure, but also provide a much needed
parallel nation-wide telecom infrastructure to various telecom operators and Internet
Service Providers (ISPs). The unique advantage of the Railways is that our network
connects the distant corners of this vast country and also covers much of the rural,
backward and remote areas which are so far deprived of good telecommunication services.
Indian Railways are already taking steps towards developing an attractive business plan to
be implemented in collaboration with suitable joint venture partners through the medium of
a professionally managed corporation. This venture visualises a concept of bringing the
whole world together as one country. Sir, our endeavour in this regard will also generate
considerable additional revenues for the Railways to finance developmental projects and
safety related works. A suitable provision for this purpose has been made in the budget.
Safety
Sir, Since the biggest challenge that Indian
Railways face today is ensuring safe transit of passengers and freight traffic, I would
like to assure the Members of this august House that safety in rail operations would be
accorded the highest priority and maximum possible investments. The Railway Safety Review
Committee headed by Justice H.R. Khanna has assessed a requirement of Rs 15,000 cr for
rehabilitation of overaged assets and for providing adequate technology back-up to
operational staff connected with train running.
Sir, within the constraint of resources, I
am proposing enhanced investment in these areas to the extent possible. I am thankful to
the Planning Commission and the Ministry of Finance for enhanced budgetary support for the
next year. However, our requirement of a specific safety related grant, as recommended by
the Railway Safety Review Committee, could not be met. Moreover, we are yet to receive
compensation for the social service obligations continuously being carried by Railways.
Sir, some of the special steps, being taken
by the Railways to strengthen safety include provision of walkie-talkie sets to drivers
and guards, track circuiting to prevent accidents due to human failure, improved
communication between driver, guard and nearest station through mobile train radio system,
block-proving by axle counters, replacing existing mechanical signalling systems with
modern signalling systems such as Colour Light Signalling, Panel Interlocking, Solid State
Interlocking and Route Relay Interlocking. Simultaneously, an intensive training and human
resource development programme specifically targeted towards enhancing safety
consciousness amongst front-line operational staff has also been launched.
Sir, I am happy to announce that Konkan
Railway Corporation has developed a new anti-collision safety device. When installed on
locomotives, brake vans, stations, level-crossings and other vulnerable locations, the
device will avert collisions or reduce their impact. In order to comprehensively test the
system, a pilot project is now being undertaken on Northeast Frontier Railway. On
successful completion of the pilot project, the device will be introduced on all the zonal
railways.
Sir, as you are aware, good track is a
pre-requisite for safe running of trains. Track renewal work, therefore, must get
priority. I am happy to announce that in spite of our serious resource constraint, I
propose to substantially enhance the outlay on track renewal taking it to Rs 2000 cr in
the next year’s budget, marking an increase of about 37% over the revised outlay in
the current year.
Signalling and telecom are also equally
important for safety. Again, Sir, I am happy to propose an enhancement of about 26% in the
outlay on Signalling and Telecom component in the next year’s budget over the revised
outlay in the current year.
A part of the diesel cess is now available
to be spent specifically for rail safety works. Sir, we expect to get a sum of Rs 300 cr
on this account next year to spend entirely on the manning of unmanned level crossings,
construction of Road Overbridges/Underbridges. This will further enhance safety on the
Railways.
Sir, safety never sleeps. I had given a
commitment while replying to the debate on Supplementary Demands for Grants in December
1999, that safety will be our primary concern. I hope that these enhanced outlays will go
a long way in ensuring a safe and sound journey for the millions of passengers.
Security
The security of Railway passengers and their
belongings depends upon the effective maintenance of law and order by the State
Governments through their State Police and the Government Railway Police (GRP) which also
is a part of the police force of the concerned State. Sir, the security environment on the
railways is a reflection of the law and order situation in general.
A dangerous new dimension to this situation
has come about in recent past, and that is, the violent acts of the militant groups.
Crowded railway stations and other sensitive installations like bridges, tracks etc. have
been targets of bomb blasts. I deeply mourn the sad loss of valuable lives in recent such
incidents. Sir, Railways have become soft targets for militant groups to express their
frustration. We have over 62,800 km of routes. On these routes, we run about 13,500 trains
daily across the country. Despite such vast spread, we are determined to combat this
menace and fully protect our passengers and installations. Keeping this in mind, I
recently convened a meeting of the Chief Secretaries and the Directors General of Police
from all the States. A high-level Joint Task Force of Railways and State Government
officials has been set up to suggest ways and means to improve the effectiveness of GRP
and RPF in preventing crimes in trains and on railway premises.
Freight Policy
Sir, the other great concern of the
Indian Railways is to arrest the slippage of market share and improve it. My objective is
to raise the share of traffic to 50% during the first decade of the new millennium from
the existing 40%. I am convinced that to achieve this, we should not only have a
substantial and time-bound augmentation of the line and terminal capacity on the saturated
‘High-Density Network’, but a multi-pronged new Freight Policy. The new Freight
Policy will have the following elements :-
Recovering non-bulk high value traffic through
appropriate marketing efforts.
Providing incentives like ‘volume
discount scheme’
Offering the leasing route to Freight
Forwarders in the Luggage Vans (SLRs) on popular mail and express trains.
Facilitating warehousing at existing railway
terminals as also at privately operated freight terminals as a marketing tool to attract
traffic.
Extending the new concept of Roll-On-Roll-Off
(RO-RO), freight movement in trucks rolled on the flat wagons to provide door to door
collection and delivery. This has been successfully launched on the Konkan Railway.
Running of fixed schedule freight trains and
terminal operations.
Launching the ‘Freight Operations
Information System’ (FOIS) to provide real-time information to customers in regard to
the booking , movement and delivery of freight consignments through Customer Service Cells
to be set up on all Zonal Railways.
Using the shadow-path created behind fast
moving mail / express trains for speedy movement of freight traffic. High speed goods
trains are slated to follow superfast express trains with adequate safety precautions to
ensure expeditious transit of select high value and perishable goods.
Passenger Services
Mr. Speaker, Sir, I can say without any
hesitation that Railways offer the most reasonably priced transport services in the
country for all sections of society, which are also comparable with the cheapest in the
world. With the growing activity in the economic, cultural and educational fields across
the length and breadth of the country, there is an ever-increasing demand for new
passenger services. I have received thousands of requests from the common people and their
representatives.
Much as I would like to fulfil all these
demands, the resource constraints and technical limitations do not allow me to do that. A
detailed exercise has been carried out to assess availability of track capacity, terminal
facilities and maintenance lines for inspection of coaches. With all these in view, I am
happy to propose introduction of the following new services :-
New Trains
Lucknow-Bhopal Express (Bi-weekly)
Bangalore-Shimoga overnight
Express (daily)
Tirupati-Nagercoil Express (Bi-weekly)
Sealdah-New Delhi Rajdhani Express
(Bi-weekly)
Jodhpur-Bangalore Express via Hubli,
Ahmedabad (weekly)
Howrah-Purulia Express (daily)
Ajmer-Bangalore Express via Hubli, Ahmedabad
(weekly)
Sealdah-New Jalpaiguri Express (Tri-weekly)
Bhagalpur-Ranchi Vananchal Express
(Tri-weekly)
Okha-Dehradun Uttaranchal Express (weekly)
(To serve Dwarka, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and
Haridwar)
Shalimar-Bankura Express
Kakinada-Visakhapatnam-Nagarsol
Link Express (Bi-weekly)
Ahmedabad-Nagpur Express (weekly)
Sealdah-Amritsar Superfast Express via Patna
Sahib (weekly)
Bandra Terminus-Gandhidham Express (by
merging 2963 / 64 Bandra-Vadodara Sayajinagari Express and 9103 / 04 Vadodara-Gandhidham
Inter-city Express)
Lucknow-Ballia-Chhapra Express
Varanasi-Baidyanath Dham Express (Bi-weekly)
Bikaner-Suratgarh Service
Bangalore-Puttaparthi Service
Sir, in the 50th Year of the
Republic, in order to commemorate three of the important places which are prominently
associated with the freedom struggle, namely Ballia, Tamluk and Satara, additional
connectivity is being provided by introducing the Jodhpur Bangalore Express,
Ajmer-Bangalore Express, Howrah-Digha Express ( to be introduced upon completion of new
line construction between Tamluk and Digha) and Lucknow-Ballia-Chhapra Express.
Sir, I am also happy to announce that I am
going to fulfil the commitment made by my predecessor in the last budget regarding
starting a new express train from Nizamuddin to Coimbatore (weekly). This train will start
operations in the month of March 2000. This could not be started earlier due to certain
operational difficulties.
Increase In Frequency
8563 / 8564 Vishakapatnam –
Bangalore Express: from 4 days to daily
2951 / 2952 Mumbai Rajdhani
Express : from 6 days to daily
2953 / 2954 August Kranti Rajdhani Express :
from 6 days to daily
1029 / 1030 Pune Howrah Azad Hind Express :
from 2 days to 3 days a week
9263 / 9264 Porbandar – Delhi Sarai
Rohilla Express : from weekly to Bi-weekly.
Extension, Connection, Augmentation
(Also augmentation to 22 coaches thereby
increasing 280 berth capacity daily)
5011 / 5012 Gorakhpur-Cochin Raptisagar
Express to Trivandrum.
7057 / 7058 Bilaspur-Cochin
Express to Trivandrum.
7081 / 7082 Indore-Cochin Express to
Trivandrum.
6731 / 6732 Bangalore-Madurai Express to
Tuticorin.
3287A/88A Patna-Rourkela Link Express to
Bilaspur.
6333/6334 Trivandrum-Rajkot Express to Hapa.
6803 / 04 Howrah-Trichy Express to
Kanniyakumari (on one day in a week).
1095 / 96 Pune-Ahmedabad Ahimsa Express to
Gandhidham (on one day in a week).
2475 / 2476 Jammu Tawi-Rajkot Express to
Hapa.
1269 / 1270 Rajkot-Bhopal Express to
Jabalpur (on two days in a week)
Sir, I am happy to announce that I propose
to fulfil another commitment made by my predecessor regarding extension of 5207 / 5208
Amritsar-Barauni Express up to Katihar and 3163 / 3164 Sealdah-Katihar Express up to
Barauni. Both these extensions will begin in the month of March. These could not be done
earlier due to operational difficulties.
New Services / Extensions to be
Introduced Upon Completion of Gauge Conversion and New Lines
Extension of 9031 / 32 Mumbai Central
– Gandhidham Kutch Express to Bhuj
One pair of passenger service
between Gandhidham and Bhuj
Extension of Rail bus services between
Nadiad and Kapadvanj to Modasa
One pair of passenger services on
Peddapalli-Karimnagar section
M.E.M.U. Services
Patna-Mokama section.
Shalimar-Bankura section.
Chennai-Arakkonam-Renigunta section.
Lucknow-Kanpur section.
Srikakulam-Vishakhapatnam section.
Katpadi-Jolarpettai section.
D.M.U. Services
Passenger Amenities
Sir, the image of the Railways is largely
dependent upon its quality of passenger services. It will be our continuous endeavour to
provide improved services to our esteemed customers. We do realise that despite our best
efforts, we are not always able to come upto the people’s expectations. There are
some problems which can surely be solved within the available resources with proper
management and ‘will to serve’. I propose to enhance our efforts manifold in
this direction.
Sir, resources are often a major constraint
while considering improvements in passenger amenities. With all the limitations due to
competing demands on scarce resources, I am happy to propose, Sir, an enhanced allocation
of Rs 200 cr in 2000-01 for passenger amenities constituting a 52% increase over the
current year.
A ‘model station’ scheme for
improving the customer interface areas on select stations now covers 114 stations, of
which 91 are class ‘A’ stations. I now propose to bring all 150 ‘A’
class stations within the ambit of the model station concept during the next year which
will have several modern facilities in a commercial complex. This will create considerable
employment opportunities for the local people. To improve sanitation, low-cost mechanised
cleaning is being contemplated at important Junction stations and on trains. In these
efforts, possibilities of private sector participation with technical know-how and capital
will also be explored.
The pilot project for introducing
tele-booking has been successfully implemented at Delhi and is proposed to be extended to
Mumbai, Calcutta, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Ahmedabad.
Extension of booking facilities for reserved
accommodation using PRS terminals/Internet to Rail Travel Agents will be implemented.
Booking on Internet through Smart Card
facility will be introduced shortly. Internet-based Reservation using credit cards will
also be made available after passing of the cyber laws by the Parliament.
Sir, as a major step to provide access to
computerised reservation facility, I have decided to include another eighty (80) stations
throughout the country, within the ambit of computerised Passenger Reservation System
(PRS).
Sir, I am happy to inform the House that for
the first time in the history of Indian Railways, an All India Summer Special Train
Time-Table is being released today. This will help passengers in choosing their options on
all important routes and also help the passengers of the intermediate stations to know the
exact schedule of these trains.
Medical Facilities
As I have already mentioned, class
‘A’ stations selected as model stations will have a chemist shop. The
arrangements being contemplated include its own doctor during busy traffic hours. The
scheme will be given wide publicity for better awareness. Sir, I am also upgrading the
first aid facilities on all 162 pairs of long distance trains with a broader range of
emergency medicines etc. A computerised database of Government and private medical
facilities at all major stations and junctions is being prepared which will help railways
organise medical assistance at pre-identified locations in case of emergencies in running
trains.
Tourism and Catering Related
Services
Hon'ble Members will be happy to know
that UNESCO has recognized the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway as a World Heritage Site, the
second Railway in the world to be given this status. Sir, to match this unique distinction
and to attract domestic and foreign tourists, I propose to upgrade services and facilities
on this section. We are also giving two colourful diesel locomotives to Darjeeling Hill
Railway.
I would also like to inform Hon'ble Members
that the Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation Limited has been incorporated
and is expected to become functional by 1st April, 2000. It will focus on
providing improved catering services to passengers and value-added tourist services for
both domestic and foreign tourists.
Sir, inspection carriages of senior
officials, popularly called ‘saloons’ have been the subject of discussion. These
carriages are often utilised by senior officials for inspections in far-flung areas and
for reaching spots of mishaps. However, keeping in view the suggestion of some Hon’ble
Members, it has been decided to increasingly use the saloons for commercial purposes and
tourism. Wide publicity will be made regarding the availability of such saloons for public
on payment basis. I also propose to use some of these saloons to form luxury tourist
trains to meet the demands of groups of foreign tourists to visit places of interest in
India. Railways will earn revenues and valuable foreign exchange by commercially using
these carriages.
Orissa Cyclone
Sir, the House is aware of the Railways’
significant role in relief and restoration operations after super cyclone in Orissa. I am
happy to inform the House that on behalf of the Railway family, a sum of Rs 21.78 cr has
been contributed to the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund for Kargil victims. Another sum
of Rs 6.58 cr has been contributed towards relief for Orissa cyclone victims.
Sir, I am happy to announce that Railways
have decided to earmark one hundred employment opportunities exclusively for the families
of the martyrs of the Operation Vijay-1999 in Kargil. The modalities for selection of the
families eligible for such employment will be worked out and recommended by the Defence
Ministry.
Research Programme
Research Designs & Standards
Organisation (RDSO), which is the research and development wing of the Indian Railways has
recently obtained ISO-9001 certificate for enhancing quality management and strengthening
the working methodologies. The functioning of this organisation is proposed to be reviewed
thoroughly in the coming year to enable it to deal with the emerging challenges. With a
view to closer interaction between RDSO and Academic/Research Institutions and industries,
it is proposed to set up a Railway Technology Cell at IIT/Kanpur in two specified areas.
Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd
In its two years of operation, the
Corporation has been able to generate revenues that are just sufficient to meet the
operating expenses. Efforts will be made to enable the Corporation to increase its revenue
generation capacity and realise its full potential so that it becomes self-reliant.
However, for the time being, it is necessary for the Railway to assist the Konkan Railway
Corporation mainly to meet their debt service obligation.
Metropolitan Transport Projects
Suburban transportation system of Mumbai
caters to a very large number of commuters. Railways have been making serious efforts to
augment it. I am happy to inform the House that doubling of Belapur-Panvel line is
expected to be completed by the end of this financial year. This will facilitate running
of more services in the near future. Other projects like the 5th line between
Santacruz & Borivali, Quadrupling of Borivali-Virar section and construction of 5th
& 6th lines between Kurla and Thane are also being executed on priority
basis.
As the Hon’ble members are aware, the
metropolitan city of Calcutta is in urgent need of attention to its suburban transport
system due to high density of population in the city. The extension of Calcutta Metro
Railway from Tollygunge to Garia which was started last year is being given further fillip
with increased allocation of funds to complete it early. I would request the State
Government of West Bengal to provide its share of the cost so that the work can be
expedited for the benefit of the people of Calcutta. Extension of Circular Railway from
Princepghat to Majerhat has already been sanctioned. In order to further strengthen the
Circular Railway System and provide facility to daily commuters, it has been decided to
provide a connection to the airport as well as electrify the existing Circular Railway
from Tala to Princepghat. This will be in continuation of the electrification of Dum Dum–Tala
section which is already in progress. This will facilitate running of EMU services on the
Circular Railway. Work will be started shortly on these portions.
I am happy to announce that we are
considering a proposal received from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for a joint venture
enterprise for developing multi-modal transport services in the twin cities of Hyderabad
and Secunderabad. The venture is expected to have participation of the Railways, the State
Government of Andhra Pradesh and private sector.
I would like to appeal to various State
Governments through you, Sir, that they should consider providing Government land free of
cost for the socially desirable railway projects. The money thus saved by the Railways can
be utilised for expeditious completion of the concerned projects.
Production Units
During 1998-99, all the Railway Production
Units - Chittaranjan Locomotive Works, Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi, Integral Coach
Factory, Perambur, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, Diesel Component Works, Patiala and
Wheel and Axle Plant, Bangalore - have achieved their targets.
I am happy to inform the Hon’ble
Members that CLW, Chittaranjan has built an indigenous 3-phase state-of-art 6000 HP
freight electric locomotive ‘Navyug’. With this, CLW has become first
amongst the developing countries, second in Asia and 5th in the world to
manufacture such a locomotive indigenously. We are proud of it. DLW and RCF are in the
process of receiving technology transfer and will soon be able to produce modern diesel
locomotives and coaches. DCW exported diesel loco components worth Rs 1.35 cr to various
countries like Malaysia, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Peru etc.
Public Sector Undertakings
Hon'ble Members will be happy to know
that the performance of the Public Sector Undertakings has been satisfactory during the
year 1998-99. In 1998-99, IRCON International Ltd. had a turnover of Rs 413 cr and earned
a net profit of Rs 56 cr It paid a dividend of Rs 11 cr. Rail India Technical and Economic
Services (RITES) achieved the highest ever turnover of Rs 142 cr during the year 1998-99,
recording a net profit of Rs10 cr and paid a dividend of Rs 2 cr. Container Corporation of
India Ltd. (CONCOR) had a turnover of Rs 685 cr, earning a profit of Rs 141 cr and paid Rs
29 cr as dividend. Indian Railway Finance Corporation earned a net profit of Rs 326 cr. It
mobilised a total of Rs 2,955 cr from market in 1998-99 to supplement the plan resources
of Indian Railways. It paid a dividend of Rs 65 cr.
Annual Plan 2000-01
Sir, with all the resource constraints, we
have been able to keep the Plan outlay for 2000-01 at Rs 11,000 cr, constituting an
increase of about 23% over the revised plan outlay of Rs 8,965 cr for the current year.
Capital support from the General Exchequer at Rs 3,540 cr is around 40 % higher than last
year, an increase which is quite unprecedented in recent years. It is proposed to go in
for market borrowings to the extent of Rs 3,668 cr. The balance Rs 3,792 cr is being met
through a combination of normal internal resources, non-traditional sources of revenue and
contribution from General Revenues for Railway Safety Works.
The thrust of this Annual Plan is
on safety besides capacity augmentation and improving passenger amenities. I have already
mentioned the enhanced outlays on safety related heads. For augmenting line capacity, the
allocation for Doubling works has been increased to Rs 655 cr from Rs 552 cr in the
Revised Estimates. Under Gauge Conversion plan head, Rs 600 cr have been provided as
against Rs 529 cr in the Revised Estimates.
New Lines
Sir, the House will be happy to know that I
have substantially stepped up the investment in New Lines next year. From a level of Rs
514 cr in the Revised Estimates this year, the outlay has been increased to Rs 825 cr or
61% over the current year’s revised estimate with an aim to accelerate progress of
pending projects, particularly some very old projects which are over a decade old. This is
also to provide adequately for new lines in the frontier areas of Jammu & Kashmir and
Northeast region. I will now list the new projects proposed to be taken up during 2000-01.
I am happy to mention that all these projects are being included only after obtaining
necessary clearances.
Kotipalli-Narsapur
Jogighopa-Maynaguri
Ramganj Mandi-Bhopal
Tarakeshwar-Bishnupur via Arambag
Sultangang-Deogarh
Ajmer-Puskar
Gandhinagar-Adraj Moti-Kalol
Ongoing new line sections which would be
completed before March 2000 are:-
Bongaon-Petrapole
Goalpara-Kamakhaya
Peddpalli-Karimnagar
The new lines targeted to be completed in
2000-01 are :
Kapadvanj-Modasa
Kashinagar-Kakdweep
Eklakhi-Gajol
Puttaparthi-Penukonda
Bargachia-Munshirhat
Tamluk-Digha
Joruri-Banspani
Gauge Conversions
Pandharpur-Kuruduwadi
Kashipur-Lalkuan
Arakkonam-Chengalpattu
Yellahanka-Yeshwantpur
Morbi-Maliya-Miyana
During the year 2000-01, Railways plan
to complete the gauge conversion of the following sections :
Doubling
Khurda Road-Puri, Phase I (Khurda Raod
– Delang)
Jarwal Road-Burhwal (Patch
Doubling)
Sonarpur to Canning, Phase I (Sonarpur -
Ghutiari Sharif)
Panvel-Vasai-JNPT
Bariupur to Lakshmikantpur, Phase I
(Baruipur – Dakshin Barasat)
Gooty-Renigunta section (Balapalle-Pullampet
section)
Tarakeshwar to Sheoraphulli, Phase I
(Sheoraphuli – Nalikul)
Zafrabad-Utretia Section, Phase - II
(Zafrabad-SriKrishnnagar)
Panskura to Haldia, Phase-I ( Panskura
– Rajgoda )
Surat-Kosamba as Phase I of 3rd line between
Vadodara and Virar
Bolpur-Ahmedpur
Amroha-Kankather
Kalinarayanpur-Krishnanagar
Manikpur-Cheonki Phase I (Manikpur-
Katayadandi)
Barasat – Hasanabad doubling with
electrification, Phase I (Barasat-Sondalia)
Conversion of Katihar-Radhikapur-Barsoi MG
line to BG as an extension of Katihar-Jogbani project.
Extension of Circular Railway
network in Calcutta to Dum Dum Airport.
Extension of Bankura-Damodar Railway to
Mukutmonipur.
Connection of the converted BDR line from
Shyam Sundernagar to Chechai.
Surveys
New Line Surveys
Titagarh to Sonarpur with junction
arrangement to the circular railway at Ultadanga.
Behrampur to Kandi
Zaheerabad to Secunderabad
Bhavnagar to Tarapur
Jind to Sonepat
Kohima to Dimapur
Ponduru to Razam
Dankuni to Champadanga via Seakhala and
Furfurah Sharif and connecting Seakhala to Bargachia.
Jaggayyapet to Miryalguda.
Pettancheru to Jogipet
Jhunjhunu to Pilani
Majerhat to Thakurpukur (Circular Rly; ).
Updating survey for Port Blair to Diglipur.
Raipur to Jharsuguda via Kharotapalan,
Baloda Bazar and Bhatgaon, Sarangarh.
Pandurangpuram to Bhadrachalam.
Krishnanagar to Karimpur
Panki to Mandhana
Merta Road to Beawar
Katpadi to Chennai via Gindi, Punnamallee
and Kanchipuram to Tindivanam
Jhalor to Phalna
Koderma to Talaiya
Banka-Nawadah-Jamui
Shirpur to Mhow
Sarna to Madhopur
Badowal to Sahnewal
Gauge Conversion surveys
Doubling Surveys
Railway Electrification
For Ninth Five Year Plan, Railways had
planned electrification of 2,300 route km. Of this, 1062 route km have been electrified
during the first two years. In the current year, electrification of 435 route km is
envisaged and in the coming one year 500 route km. are proposed to be electrified. The
following projects are targeted to be completed before March 2000.
Erode-Ernakulam
Adra-Midnapur
Kanpur-Lucknow
Sir, a very high tariff is charged by
various State Electricity Boards, imposing undue burden on rail users. I had taken up the
issue with the State Governments recently but the response is not very encouraging. It
has, therefore, been decided that in addition to making further efforts in accessing more
power from the 15% unallocated central share of power, Indian Railways will also consider
going in for exclusive power purchase agreements through joint ventures with public /
private power companies, provided the tariff offered is more attractive.
Human Resource Development
Permanent Negotiating Machinery (PNM), Joint
Consultative Machinery (JCM), and Participation of Railway Employees in Management (PREM)
are working satisfactorily. I would like to express my sincere appreciation for their
positive role in helping industrial harmony on the Railways, with sixteen lakh employees
constantly striving to meet the huge task before them.
Staff Welfare
Sir, very recently, Western Railway has
developed a website called "Pensioners’ Helpline" on the Internet, which
allows pensioners to communicate their grievances to senior officers from anywhere without
visiting the office. This is one step forward towards electronic governance
(e-governance).
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and
other Backward Classes/ Physically Handicapped
Railway Recruitment Boards
The functioning of the Railway
Recruitment Boards has been a subject of debate at several fora. While some improvements
have been brought in, several other suggestions for making these Boards more broad-based
by including representations from SC/ST/OBC and minority communities have been sent by Hon’ble
members. A final decision on the issue will be taken after considering all aspects.
Sports
I am happy to inform the Hon'ble Members
that the Railways have won 14 National titles so far this year. A number of Railway
sportspersons have represented the country at the SAARC Asian Federation Games held in
Kathmandu and brought laurels to the country. It is also a matter of great pride that 15
of the 16 women Hockey players, who represented the country in the 4th Asian
Women’s Hockey Cup, were from the Railways. Two power lifters of the Railways also
won Bronze Medals in the World Power Lifting Championship.
Sir, the process of recruitment of women
against sports quota does not cover certain popular sports like football, wrestling and
aquatics (except diving). Women are no longer behind men in any sport. Hence, I propose to
include these sports for women too. Sir, it is also proposed to include two new sports,
namely Archery and Karate, both for men and women, for purposes of recruitment against
sports quota.
International Co-operation
Sir, Indian Railways is an active member of
the International Union of Railways (UIC), Paris. We are making a significant contribution
to the promotion of cooperation between Railways and development of Rail transport at the
global level. Indian Railways are playing a pivotal role in development of Trans-Asian
Railway which would span China, Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Iran and Turkey
onwards to Europe. Sir, I am happy to announce that in the coming year, our rail links
with Bangladesh and Nepal are going to be restored for goods traffic. We will also make
efforts to begin passenger services soon.
Sir, Railways are negotiating with the Asian
Development Bank for a loan totaling about Rs 3,800 cr for Rail Sector Improvement Project
covering aspects of augmentation of capacity, safety etc.
High Speed Rail Transportation
High speed passenger transportation,
which was earlier confined to a few countries, is now becoming more common, especially in
the European Union countries. In my vision for Indian Railways in this new millennium,
there is certainly a place for high speed intercity transport in our country. I propose to
initiate necessary studies towards the choice of routes for highspeed.
Reforms and Restructuring
Sir, Indian Railways are a one-and-a-half
century old system that has served the people successfully till now. But in today’s
fast changing world, with emerging new technologies and financing opportunities, Indian
Railways must attune itself to the new realities. The relevance of the existing
organisational structure, regulatory arrangements, functional modalities and above all,
its role in the changing scenario need to be looked at afresh. Sir, Railways have set up a
‘Railway Expert Group’ with members from diverse fields. The Group will submit
its report by April 2000. Here, I may assure the House that the interest of the Railway
employees will be fully protected.
Transparency and Accountability
Sir, I believe that a system which touches
the lives of at least 1.5 cr of our citizens everyday needs to be completely transparent.
While I do appreciate that the existing systems and procedures of our organisation have
withstood the test of times, ensuring sufficient transparency and accountability, I feel
that in these changing times, we need to set higher standards for ourselves. Railways are
one of the largest government procurement organisations. Hence, I intend to streamline the
entire procurement procedures of Railways where reform is needed. I have also decided that
from the next financial year, the complete procurement calendar of the Indian Railways
will be made available also on the Internet. Modalities of handling public grievances will
also undergo a through review. Sir, it is also proposed to streamline the system of
internal audit in Railways to ensure better monitoring and accountability.
Sir, I would like to convey a clear message
that corrupt practices in Indian Railways, in any form, shall be dealt with most harshly
and with all the determination at our command. I must state without any hesitation that
corrupt persons have no place in Indian Railways, however high or low they may be. At the
same time, I will go to any length to protect any of my 16 lakh employees who are honest
and dedicated. Sir, I would like to seek inspiration from the words of Swami Vivekananda
who said " Give Me A Few Men and Women Who Are Pure and Selfless, and I Shall Shake
The World".
Part - II
Budget Estimates 2000-01
In the current year, the country witnessed
an economic recovery after a two-year long recession. The present indications are for a
further improvement in the growth performance. The macro-economic fundamentals are strong
in several respects as the country has entered the new millennium. The trends are
encouraging in agricultural and industrial production including the basic infrastructure
industries. Keeping this in view, the Freight traffic target has been fixed at 475 million
tonnes, an increment of 25 million tonnes over current year’s target of 450 million
tonnes. A slightly high target has been kept trusting the buoyancy in the economy as well
as the additional marketing efforts of the Railways which are now in the offing. To
facilitate adequate availability of rolling stock for freight movement, a higher
requirement of 23,000 wagons has been projected by Indian Railways for the next year. This
will give fillip to the wagon industry in general which has been suffering from
under-utilisation of capacity due to insufficient orders.
For passenger traffic, a 5% increase has
been provided in keeping with the long-term growth in passenger traffic. With these
projections, the goods earnings are assessed at Rs 23,038 cr and passenger earnings at Rs
10,148 cr.
Relying upon a boost to parcel business by
Rs 100 cr over and above a normal 5% growth, Other Coaching earnings are expected to be Rs
826 cr. Sundry other earnings, placed at Rs 1,417 cr, include Rs 500 cr by way of leasing
of ‘right of way’ for optic fibre cables, Rs 150 cr from commercial exploitation
of land and air space; and another Rs 100 cr through commercial publicity on Railway
premises and rolling stock, apart from a normal growth of 5%.
Sir, the bulk of the outstanding dues in
Traffic Suspense relate to Powerhouses especially Badarpur Thermal Power Station. A target
of Rs 500 cr has been kept expecting a sizeable clearance of these dues. Taking these into
account, Gross Traffic Receipts are estimated at Rs 35,929 cr.
Ordinary Working Expenses at Rs 28,115 cr
provide for a minimal increase over current year, resulting in a total variation of 9%
over Revised Estimates, 1999-2000. Appropriation to Pension Fund is placed at Rs 4,996 cr
and DRF has been provided at Rs 2,441 cr based upon the actual requirement for plan
resources.
Total Working Expenses will, thus, amount to
Rs 35,552 cr, leading to Net Traffic Receipts of Rs 377 cr. Net Miscellaneous Receipts are
estimated at Rs 815 cr. This also takes into account Rs 300 cr proposed to be received
from General Revenues for Railway Safety Works. Thus, Net Revenue of Rs 1192 cr is
reached.
Dividend to General Revenues has been worked
out at 7% of the Capital-at-charge as recommended by the Railway Convention Committee for
1999-2000. The Memorandum for 2000-01 is being submitted to the Committee. The dividend
projected in Budget Estimate 2000-01 is Rs 2,115 cr, but in view of a shortfall in
internal resources for plan needs, it is proposed to pay to General Revenues only Rs 615
cr and transfer the balance Rs 1,500 cr to the Deferred Dividend Liability Account.
Based on the above projections, the
"Excess" of receipts over expenditure in 2000-01 comes to Rs 576 cr, which falls
short of the requirements of plan expenditure to be met from the Development Fund and
Capital Fund together totaling Rs 1,421 cr. An amount of Rs 249 cr is proposed to be taken
as loan for Capital Fund from the Budgetary Support of Rs 3,540 cr. This leaves an
uncovered gap of Rs 600 cr which is required to be mobilised additionally.
Sir, as I mentioned earlier, after two years
the economy is now poised for a higher growth rate. Railways are comfortably placed to
achieve the target of loading for the current year. There was no increase in freight rates
during the year 1998-99. There has been considerable increase in the input costs of the
railways and the recent hike in the price of diesel has put an additional burden on the
railways’ finances. Some upward rationalisation of the freight rates has thus become
unavoidable. I, therefore, propose the following rationalisation in the tariff and
classifications of certain commodities during the next year.
There will be no increase in the freight
rates for essential commodities like Foodgrains, Sugar, Edible salt, Edible oils,
Kerosene, LPG, Fruits and vegetables.
Keeping in view the need to encourage higher
industrial growth, I do not want to overburden certain commodities in the core sector.
Therefore, I propose to contain the increase in rates of some commodities to less than 5%
by downgrading the classifications, as detailed in the Memorandum. The commodities are
coal (not meant for household consumption), iron and steel (Division A/B/C), cement, iron
ore, limestone and dolomite and certain petroleum products.
Railways have been charging concessional
tariff for Chemical Manures in the past, despite the fact that the prices are administered
by the Government. I propose to correct this distortion by upgrading the classifications
suitably as explained in the Memorandum. Urea will, however, be exempted from the increase
altogether. Similarly, freight charges for Livestock and Oilseeds would also be raised
appropriately to make their haulage financially more viable. The revised classifications
are mentioned in the Memorandum. The average increase in the freight rates in these
commodities would be more than the normal increase of 5%.
Sir, I, propose an increase of 7% in the
scale rates of Parcel and Luggage including Motor Car rates. Rates for newspaper, magazine
and medicine will, however, be exempted from this increase and existing rates will
continue without any change.
106. The above proposals for adjustment in
tariff for Freight, Parcel and Luggage is estimated to generate Rs 600 cr per annum. The
above changes in rates and classifications will be effective from 1st April
2000.
Sir, I am happy to announce the following
concessions, in addition to continuation of the concessional MST scheme meant for people
below the poverty line, which was approved by the House at the time of Supplementary
Demands for Grants in December 1999 :-
108. Sir, with regard to passenger fares,
there is a general feeling that in many respects passengers do not get the quality of
service from the Indian Railways. As I mentioned earlier, despite serious financial
constraints, I have been able to propose an increased outlay on passenger amenities which
is 54% higher than the current year’s Revised Estimate. Sir, I am committed to
increasing passenger amenities on trains and on platforms. Enhancing the satisfaction
levels of passengers towards the services is a very important priority for me and I would
like to witness definite improvement. Meanwhile, I do not wish to burden the passengers.
Therefore, Sir, I am not proposing any revision of passenger fare of any class.
Conclusion
109. In the end, I wish to express my
gratitude to Respected Prime Minister for his encouragement and support. My sincere thanks
are also due to all the railwaymen for their hard work and dedication to duty, which has
helped railways in achieving their task successfully. I am also thankful to the rail users
whose cooperation we have always been getting. I am confident that in the year to come
they will continue to cooperate and will also enrich our efforts by giving constructive
suggestions for bringing overall improvements in railway functioning.
110. Sir, permit me to end my speech with the
following words of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore which emerge in my heart as I complete by
budget statement.
" The morning will surely come,
The darkness will vanish.
And thy voice pour down.
In golden streams,
Breaking through the sky"
111. Sir, with these words I commend the
Railway Budget 2000-2001 to the House.
Source: India Infoline Limited
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