Indian Railways Budget Speech 1994-95
Indian Railways Budget Speech 1994-95 Speech Of Shri C. K. Jaffer Sharief Introducing The Railway Budget For 1994-95, on 24th February, 1994 Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise to present the Revised Estimates for 1993-94 and Budget Estimates for 1994-95 for the Indian Railways. Introduction 2.1 Sir, it is widely known and universally recognised that amongst the World Railway systems, Indian Railways occupy a unique position. They serve not only as a basic infrastructure for the economic growth, but also as an instrument of fulfilling various social national objectives while, at the same time, being called upon to run as a business organisation. Performance of this role is, by no means, an easy task. Worldwide, the Railways are compensated for meeting social obligations, by the beneficiaries or by the Government. The Indian Railways, on the contrary, have largely to meet such obligations through their own resources. Sir, the budgetary support to the Indian Railways has been substantially reduced in recent years, from 51% in 1986-87 to about 18% in 1994-95. The Railways are now moving towards self-reliance. All out efforts are being made to step up the internal resource generation through increased efficiency and productivity and take recourse to market borrowings, so that adequate funds are available to sustain the growth of this vital infrastructure. 2.2 I am happy to state that despite the above constraint, Railways have taken up the challenge of change with commitment and dedication, with a fair degree of success. This has been made possible by better management, higher productivity, better maintenance and greater reliability of assets, technological upgradation and capacity generation, particularly through increased inputs in gauge conversion, to name but a few.
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