2010 INDIA RAILWAY BUDGET

Railway budget presented by Mamata Banerjee in parliament Wednesday

Highlights of the 2010-11 Railway budget

-- No increase in passenger fares

-- Rs.100 reduction in freight per wagon for fertilisers and kerosene

-- Free travel for cancer patients in 3rd AC classes

-- North-south, east-west dedicated freight corridors to be created

-- Construction of high-speed passenger rail corridors envisaged

-- More multi-functional hospitals to be set up

-- Impact of Sixth Pay Commission recommendations placed at Rs.55,000 crore

-- Gross earnings in 2009-10 estimated at Rs.88,281 crore.

-- Working expenditure in 2009-10 estimated at Rs.83,440 crore.

-- Expenses during 2010-11 estimated at Rs.87,100 crore

-- Thrust on expansion in 2010-11 with allocation of Rs.4,411 crore.

-- Kashmir rail link to be extended to Sopore in the north of the valley.

-- Net profit of Rs.1,328 crore in 2009-10.

-- 10 automobile ancillary hubs to be created.

-- Twenty-two million energy saving CFLs for lighting distributed already

-- Policy decision to employ one member of family whose land is

requisitioned for railway projects.

-- Special facilities to be established for gangmen.

-- Insurance facilities for licensed porters as part of railway's corporate

social responsibility

-- Educational facilities to be set up for children of 80,000 women

families

-- Cost-sharing in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode in some

gauge-conversion projects

-- Further extension of Kolkata Metro on priority basis; stations to be

named after Bahadur Shah Zafar, Tagore family

-- Karmabhoomi trains to be introduced for migrant labour

-- New Janmabhoomi train between Ahmedabad and Udhampur

-- Special 'Bharat Teertha' train to be run around India to commemorate

Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary

-- Railway line to be extended from Bilaspur in Himachal Pradesh to Leh in

Jammu and Kashmir

-- Andaman and Nicobar Islands to get railway line from Port Blair to

Diglipur

-- Sikkim capital Gangtok to be connected by rail from Rangpo

-- 2011 being 150th anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore, special train to be

run from West Bengal to Bangladesh

-- Centre for railway research to be established with Indian Institutes of

Technology and Defence Research and Development Organisation

-- Will involve unions in policy making

-- Integral Coach Factory Chennai to be further modernised

-- New wagon repair shop in Mumbai

-- Design, development and testing centre for railway wheels at Bangalore

-- Within five years, all unmanned level crossings to be manned

-- Construction of more underpasses, besides road overbridges

-- Greater coordination with state governments to protect railway property

-- Security of women passengers to be improved

-- Ex-servicemen to be employed in Railway Protection Force

-- Five sports academies to be set up; astroturf to be provided for

development of hockey; employment opportunities for sports persons

-- Railways to be lead partner for Commonwealth Games

-- Special drive to increase passenger amenities

-- Upgradation of 94 stations

-- Six new drinking water bottling plants in PPP mode

-- Modern toilets at railway stations

-- More ticketing centres to help the public

-- Acquisition of cutting edge safety technology

-- 1,000 route km to be created

-- Special task force for clearing investment proposals in 100 days

-- New business model to be created

-- No privatisation; railways will remain with government but with greater

participation of business community

-- 117 of 120 new trains for current fiscal to be flagged off

Visakhapatnam to become a slum free city in Future

The two cities, Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam in the State that figure among the 30 selected for implementation the Rajiv Awas Yojana, a housing scheme aimed at hut-less cities. The slums will be developed in situ and funds will allocated for development of infrastructure. The model of the housing unit and funding has not been finalized according to Municipal Commissioner, VN Vishnu. The Rajiv Awas Yojana plans to make these cities hut-less in five years by developing houses in G+3 model for dwellers in slums where they are living now. In Visakhapatnam, there are 735 slums and the new housing scheme should be integrated with the city development plan already prepared by the GVMC.

Speaking to media, GVMC Commissioner, VN Vishnu said that for the new scheme the implementation of which will begin in the next financial year capacity building and training should be completed by March. He added that GVMC is in an advantageous position to benefit from the scheme. For implementation of Indiramma (urban0 housing scheme in three phases surveys have been carried out and work on Geographic Information System has already been launched. GVMC has a database ready and he presented the details at the meeting expressed readiness to implement the scheme.

Vishnu who presented a paper on 'Building Green Cities-Leading in best practices by GVMC' at a JNNURM meeting at Ahmedabad said that Visakhapatnam had 42.2 percent of greenery in its area and together with 8 percent of water bodies it came to fifty percent higher than any other city. Vishnu said he would have to meet the ENC Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Anup Singh and DRM D Kamilla to sort out the issues of Defence and Railway land on the BRTS corridors. In addition, a detailed third report for the third corridor from Adavivaram to Gosala was being sent for approval.