LOK SABHA ___

SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______

Tuesday, April 26, 2016 / Vaisakha 6, 1938 (Saka) ______

*MATTERS UNDER RULE 377

(i) SHRI RODMAL NAGAR laid a statement regarding need to

establish a Kendriya Vidyalaya at Narsinghgarh in Rajgarh

parliamentary constituency, Madhya Pradesh.

(ii) SHRI SUBHASH CHANDRA BAHERIA laid a statement

regarding need to expedite setting up of a rail coach factory at

Bhilwara, Rajasthan.

(iii) SHRI PANKAJ CHAUDHARY laid a statement regarding need to

set up an Integrated Ayush Hospital in Maharajganj district, Uttar

Pradesh.

(iv) SHRI GOPAL SHETTY laid a statement regarding need to take

measures for welfare of farmers in the country.

* laid on the Table as directed by the Chair. (v) DR. ANSHUL VERMA laid a statement regarding need to provide

electricity connection to Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in

Hardoi parliamentary constituency, Uttar Pradesh.

(vi) SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL laid a statement regarding

need to accord early approval to the proposal of Government of

Gujarat for declaration of areas around various wildlife sanctuaries in

the State as eco-sensitive zones.

(vii) SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH laid a statement regarding need to

provide PNG in Aurangabad parliamentary constituency, Bihar.

(viii) SHRI NANA PATOLE laid a statement regarding need to create

awareness among people regarding importance of donation of organs.

(ix) SHRI HARISH MEENA laid a statement regarding need to ensue

student friendly academic environment at NIT, Srinagar, Jammu and

Kashmir.

(x) SHRI ASHOK MAHADEORAO NETE laid a statement regarding

need to speed up the process for construction of Wadsa-Gadchiroli

and Nagpur-Nagbheed railway lines in Maharashtra.

(xi) SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL laid a statement regarding need to restart

unit of National Textiles Corporation at Chalisgaon, Maharashtra. (xii) SHRI OM BIRLA laid a statement regarding need to set up a team to

report on the condition of railway underpasses facing inundation

during rainy season on Kota-Bundi railway section in Rajasthan.

(xiii) SHRIMATI RAKSHATAI KHADSE laid a statement regarding

need to improve AM radio frequency at par with FM radio.

(xiv) SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN laid a statement

regarding need to declare the Puttingal Temple tragedy in Kollam,

Kerala as a national calamity and extend financial assistance to

Kerala.

(xv) SHRI GUTHA SUKENDER REDDY laid a statement regarding

need for establishment of a separate High Court for Telangana.

(xvi) SHRI S. SELVAKUMARA CHINNAIYAN laid a statement

regarding need for four-laning of National Highway between Karun

and Coimbatore via Kangayam and from Kangayam to Tiruppur in

Tamil Nadu.

(xvii) SHRI K. ASHOK KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to adopt

appropriate scientific storage techniques to minimize loss of

foodgrains in the country.

(xviii) SHRI BALBHADRA MAJHI laid a statement regarding need to

withdraw the restrictions and include new projects under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana in Nabarangpur parliamentary

constituency of .

(xix) SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE laid a statement regarding need

to provide adequate basic facilities in long passenger distance trains in

the country.

(xx) SHRIMATI KOTHAPALLI GEETHA laid a statement regarding

need to construct compound walls around all the girls' hostels in Arka

parliamentary constituency in .

(xxi) SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding

need to undertake measures for ground water recharge and rainwater

harvesting in the country to address the problem of water scarcity in

various parts of the country.

(xxii) SHRI RADHESHYAM BISWAS laid a statement regarding need to

reopen the Cachar Paper Mill, a unit of Hindustan Paper Corporation

Limited at Panchagram, Assam.

BUDGET (RAILWAYS), 2016-17

DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (RAILWAYS), 2016-17

SHRI MALLIKARJUN KHARGE initiating said: At times we make lots of promises but in enthusiasm there is little implementation. Now I come to rail safety. In 2013-14 under the UPA rule 54 passengers had lost their lives. Now in

2015-16, this went up to 64. There should have been an improvement after this government came to power. It is the Congress Party which initiated the efforts for uni-gauge regarding the 66,000 km rail lines. The present government promised in

2015 to create a safety fund of Rs. 1 lakh crores. A committee was also constituted. I want to know how much money has been allocated, deposited in this

RRS Committee and the amount sanctioned so far for this safety fund and the amount spent. There has been more than 50 per cent cut in the appropriation of the

Railway Depreciation Reserve Fund. If there is no depreciation Reserve Fund how will the tracks be maintained. For renewal of Railway assets it is essential that there should be more amount in this fund. But when the funds are decreasing how can the railway assets be kept safe. In 2015-16, the Railway Development Fund was reduced from Rs.5750 crores to Rs. 1323 crore. How can you say that immense development is taking place. Now we come to capital fund. Even in this

25 per cent deduction has been effected. Regarding the Debt Service Fund this too has been subjected to 75 per cent deduction. The amount in this has been reduced to Rs.214 crores from Rs.900 crores. For doubling of railway lines compared to previous year's 25% reduction has taken place. In 2015-16 it was Rs.7113 crores.

Now in 2016-17 it is Rs. 4782 crores. The Governments says external investment is being made. But where is it being used? There is cut in every Head yet development is taking place. How can this happen? Cut has also been effected regarding Rolling Stock. There has been drastic reduction in capital expenditure which covers track renewal, signals, telecom, gauge conversion etc. This government is more concerned with marketing. Regarding revenue and expenditure in 2016-17 the target for total revenue was 10 per cent extra. It is interesting that in 2015-16 the total income was 9 per cent but the target set by the government was 10 per cent and the income was 9 per cent. How is it possible to undertake all the works when revenue is declining. In 2015-16 net surplus decreased from budget estimates by 20 percent , i.e. Rs.11400 crores. There has been a reduction of atleast 20 per cent in this. Total plan allocation was reduced by

15 per cent, and when plan expenditure is reduced development naturally would be down. I wrote at least 10 letters regarding the three Railway Divisions. We tried for these three Divisions even allotted land. They will complete the projects regarding the Mysore Terminal, doubling in Bengaluru, regarding electrification.

Karnataka was the first state which agreed to provide 50 per cent of the share.

Whatever projects are pending in Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana and in other states should be completed. On the one hand Government is building high speed rail network with the expense of Rs.200 crore per kilometer, whereas if this fund is used in creating rail network in those areas which lack in rail facilities then 5000 km instead of 500 km rail network can be built. YOGI ADITYANATH: I rise in support of the demands for grants

(Railway) for 2016-17 presented by the hon. Minister of Railways. The development works undertaken by the Minister of Railways under the leadership of hon. Prime Minister during the past two years is commendable. Progress of the nation is the duty of all of us. For the first time it is seen that rising above political narrow mindedness the Ministry of Railways is undertaking development work in a practical and farsighted manner. For the first time attempt is being made to give priority to important schemes related to the common man and in the interest of revenue. At present a passenger travelling in any corner of the country can present his problem to the Minister of Railways within minutes and its solution can be seen quickly. There are challenges before the which include safety and security, punctuality, cleanliness and information as well as transparency regarding rail projects. All these challenges have been adequately included in the Railway

Budget. Special emphasis has been placed to increase revenues not only through fares but also through other sources. Several aspects have been mentioned in

Mission 2020: providing reservation as per needs, reliable service, increasing the speed of mail express trains to 80 km etc. I feel that the ministry of Railways has got such a Minister who has successfully resolved the issue of cash crunch. The

Government is announcing various schemes with full responsibility and will also complete all these schemes. It is for the first time that the Ministry of Railways has achieved ambitious target of constructing 2500 km additional broad gauge line.

Electrification of rail lines is also a very important from the point of view of environment also. So far, 1600 km rail line was electrified last year and for the year 2016-17, a target of 1800 km has been fixed. In Bihar construction of two rail engine factories has been started with a cost of Rs.40,000 crores under the Make- in-India programme. We are also happy that the rate of rail accidents has also come down. We normally observe that the condition of unreserved coaches used to be quite bad. and Deendayal express trains have been introduced and these trains have been well received by the general public. The passenger insurance is another good measure taken by the government to ensure safe rail journey. I welcome the measures initiated by the Ministry of Railways to increase its revenue earnings. Railways is one of the largest departments of the world working under single management. I would like to draw the attention of the hon. Minister of Railways to certain issues relating to loco pilots. In fact, they had also submitted their grievances through a memorandum to the Ministry of

Railways. Junior and Senior Section Engineers have long been demanding Grade

B scale. I feel that the grievances of the serving railway employees should be resolved in a time bound manner. I would congratulate the Minister of Railways that he announced various schemes in a non-partisan manner and taking into account the needs of all the people. A loco electric factory was sanctioned in Gorakhpur sometime back but latter on it was transferred to some other place. I would congratulate the Railway Minister that he reached Gorakhpur and enquired from us and the general public about our grievances and when we put forth our grievances then he sanctioned a loco electric shed to Gorakhpur. I would, therefore, request the Hon. Minister of Railways that he should come to Gorakhpur for ground breaking ceremony and inauguration of this shed. Broad-gauge conversion work was being carried out on Gorakhpur, Anand Nagar, Nautanwa,

Naugarh, Badni, Balrampur, and Gonda meter gauge rail line and this line was inaugurated by the then Minister of Railways in the year 2003. Thereafter, their government did not give any money during their ten years term. When the BJP

Government came, the Hon. Minister of Railways sanctioned Rs.1075 crore and completed this work. I would again request the Minister of Railways that he had sanctioned a weekly train to Mumbai but its speed is very slow and needs to be increased. There is also a need to introduce more such passenger trains on this route. There is one very important railway station Suratgarh on this line where there is a need to provide a stoppage of these trains. There has been a long pending demand to lay a new railway line from Anandpur to Hooghly via

Maharjganj district headquarters as this is the only district headquarter which is not connected by rail network. I would also request the Hon. Minister of Railways to introduce the bullet train between Delhi and Gorakhpur. There is also a need to ply a super fast train between Gorakhpur and and the train plying from

Gorakhpur to Dehradun should be made daily.

SHRI MULAYAM SINGH YADAV: A former Prime Minister had announced a railway line from Etawah to Mainpuri and it was also to be extended upto Gajraula. In the entire Eastern Uttar Pradesh, only Mainpuri and Azamgarh are deprived of broad gauge rail network. Azamgarh has been connected by broad gauge rail network and now only Mainpuri is left out. A former Minister of

Railways had also announced that this train will not only ply to that place but it will also go to Etawah, Gwalior and Mumbai. Now, many years have passed by. I felt glade that it was stated in the railway budget that first incomplete works will be completed and then only new works will be taken up. I feel happy that now our work will be done and the train would be introduced. I would, therefore, urge to give about Rs.100-150 crore for completion of this rail line.

DR. TAPAS MANDAL: is deprived of getting any viable project from this Railway Budget 2016-17. The Minister has allocated very meagre amount for the on-going projects in West Bengal. When our leader was the Railway Minister, she had announced a lot of projects for West Bengal. Those projects have been neglected by the present Government. This is my first appeal to the Union Minister. In my Lok Sabha constituency , there is a huge and long-pending demand for construction of motorable subway. Conversion of pedestrian subway to motorable subway is very important for the city of Ranaghat, which is divided by the railway stations. Frequency and passenger carrying capacity of Sealdah and bound local trains should be increased for the benefit of daily passengers. There are a lot of unmanned level crossings in my constituency. These should be manned. Kalyani city may be connected through metro railway from Barrackpore. Nabadwip Dham is the birth place of

Mahaprabhu Chaitanya. This station should be developed as a model railway station. A new Chakda Local Train should be introduced from Chakda to Sealdah during office hours.

SHRI RAMESHWAR TELI: I would like to thank the Hon'ble Railway

Minister especially for his effort to improve the Railway network in North-Eastern

States. I appreciate the Raiway Minster for increasing the allocation of the North

East Frontier Railway (NFR) to Rs. 40,000 crore from Rs. 35,065 crore. This year's budget has lot to offer for North East region. I would request the Railway Minster to initiate action for electrification of railway lines which has been a long pending demand of the people of Assam and to re-open Bogapani Railway Station in

Tinsukia district of Assam. One more request to the Minister is to extend the

Railway line from Lekhapani to Jairampur in Tinisukia district of Assam and

Tinisukia Railway Station be developed into a Model Station with all modern facilities like Wifi etc. SHRI PRASANNA KUMAR PATASANI: I am grateful to the Minister as per our demand the Government has sanctioned the Demands for Grants.

Though the allocation is not sufficient to mitigate the railway problem in our state.

The world class station of Puri and Bhubanesar are not materialized. As far as

Mono Rail and Metro at is concerned , immediate action is needed to start the work from to Bhubanesar and from Bhubanesar to Puri via Kurda,

Jatini and direct Puri to Konark. Presently catering system is not well managed. I also request Hon'ble Prime Minister Modiji to start the bullet train from

Bhubanesar to Delhi on priority. Flyovers from Satyanagar to Shahidnagar to

Pokaripur is taking lot of time for completion and Pokaripur flyover is highly delayed. Whatever grants you have allotted should not be shifted to other states or lapsed.

PROF. RICHARD HAY: In the plan head no allocation has been made in

2016-17 for New lines, S.R. Angamaly-Sabrimala Project. The Thalassery-Mysore

Line has not been allocated any funds for the conduct of survey. The Budget allocation to Netravati Mangalore Central pending work has only been allocated a paltry sum. The pedestrian path from the new bus stand to Railway-I platform premises is not yet taken up by the Railways. There is no retiring room, toilet in the First Platform. The electrification of Kannur to Mangalore has to be completed on a war footing. DR. SUBHASH RAMRAO BHAMRE: For the past 40 years our state is demanding for sanctioning of Manmad, Dhule, Indore new rail line and adequate

Budget provisioning of funding these projects. Hon'ble Minister has sanctioned this new rail line project and also established a railway infrastructure development company by entering into a contract with Maharashtra Government and have made

Budget provision of rupees 9969 crores for this project.

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA: The hon. Railway Minister has taken various good steps in the Railway Budget, including allocation of about Rs. 4,600 crore to Odisha. The condition of Indian Railways is, in fact critical. One factor that demonstrates this is that the operating ratio of Railways is 92 per cent. This is very difficult situation for any organisation to operate. Some important steps need to be taken for turn-around of the Railways as it has very tough financial scene ahead. We can well expect so from the present government. The Railways has to pay dividend for the gross budgetary support. This system should be reviewed. In several countries, the ratio of passenger fare to the freight rate hovers around 120 to 130 per cent. It is just the reverse in India; it is just 30 per cent. So, this is another critical situation which the Indian Railway has got. The Railways has to undergo a serious structural change. The Railways needs to concentrate its energy on its core activity. I have many demands for my constituency but at least, my demand for a Division at should be met. An elevated corridor should be constructed at Bhubaneswar. A passenger train should be introduced in Nilgiri in my constituency. Adequate budgetary provision should be made for Digha-

Jaleswar Railway line. Then, there is Digha-Baliapal-Basta, the North Odisha Rail

Corridor. Kindly expedite that project. We have requested for one train from

Balasore to Ahmedabad, one from Balasore to Rourkela and one Jan Shatabdi from

Kolkata to Bhubaneswar. We have also demanded to name Balasore Railway

Station in the name of Fakir Mohan Senapati who is the saviour of Oriya language.

Paschimbad unmanned level crossing where a lot of deaths are happening, should be manned. Our other demands like from Bhubaneswar to New

Delhi via Sambalpur, flyover at NH 42 at Boinda, a new train from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi via Sambalpur in the name of late Shri Biju Patnaik should be met.

We are also requesting for connecting roads from Cuttack to Paradeep Road with over-bridges and platforms at all respective places. Creation of new railway division at Jharsuguda and stoppage of Amravati Express at Jaleswar are some of our demands. We want a skill development centre at Koraput. Lanjigarh

Maintenance Workshop should not be taken out of Odisha. We want Express train from Jagdalpur to New Delhi and daily train from Koraput to Bhubaneswar. We request you to expedite the work of SPB which has been formed by the Railway

Ministry and the Government of Odisha. KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV: As a first time Member of Parliament, the very first issue I raised was about communication to and from my constituency.

The burning issue was the delay in completion of the Broad Gauge line from

Silchar to Lumding. The train services have commenced but this monsoon has already disrupted the services in the DIMA HASAO section. I also demand more frequent train services from Silchar to Upper Assam (Dibrugarh etc.) and more important to South India (). I am deeply concerned about the security of passengers where there are landslides during monsoon. No food or water is available between Silchar and Guwahati. I hope all matter will be looked into immediately.

SHRI KAUSHAL KISHORE: Everyday about 35 thousand MST passengers and 35 thousand other passengers used to travel upto Lucknow from

Etaunja railway station in the district of Lucknow. Etaunja railway station has been declared to be modified in a halt and the passenger became very angry there after this declaration. There is only one platform at Harauni railway station and the station is in dilapidated condition. There should be at least three platform, tin shade and the arrangement of toilets and drinking water is also very necessary. There must be the stoppage of at least two express trains at Mohanlalganj, Nigoha and

Malihabad stations plying to and from Lucknow. SHRI A.T. NANA PATIL: There is an immediate need to construct over- bridge on level crossing no. 126,149 and 148 in my Jalgaon Parliamentary

Constituency in view of increasing traffic. Construction work of Jalgaon,

Dharangaon, Chalisgaon, Pachhore and Alamner station and transforming them into a model railway station, must be started at the earliest. I had made a request for the stoppage of some express trains at different railway stations in my constituency, action on the above request must also be taken at the earliest.

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE: Pune in Maharashtra is the fastest growing city. There is heavy traffic jam near Pune. If Pune has suburban railway, this problem can be solved. Number of suburban trains in Mumbai should be increased. Work on Karjat-Panvel rail line should be started at the earliest. Semi- high speed train should be introduced between Mumbai and Pune. Passenger amenities at platforms should be improved at all stations. A sub junction should be made near Chinchwad. Frequency of trains between Pune and Mumbai should be increased. Matheran is a hill station near Karjat in my parliamentary constituency.

A narrow gauge train operates there since British times. Railway station and track of that train should be overhauled for the benefit of the tourists. A subway should be constructed at gate no. 41 in Talegaon.

SHRI THOTA NARASIMHAM: This is a balanced railway budget with focus on rural and agriculture development. No hike in passenger fares is a big relief to the poor. Numerous reformative steps have been taken in this budget like setting up of bio-toilets, installation of CCTV, augmentation of catering services etc. Dedicated freight corridor from to , and the emphasis on port connectivity would auger well for commerce and trade in the country. A new railway zone with Vishakhapatnam as the headquarters should be established.

There was no mention of a double-decker train between Vishakhapatnam and

Vijayawada, or any originating express trains from Vishakhapatnam to Tirupati,

Chennai, Varanasi, Howrah and Bengaluru. Also, no new trains from Vijayawada or Guntur were announced to other Metros/South Indian cities. There is a need for a satellite station at Vijayawada. The division of Andhra Pradesh has brought so many unforeseen difficulties. Hence, I would request the hon. Railway Minister to be liberal to Andhra Pradesh. Rapid rail connectivity from the new capital of

Andhra Pradesh to and other cities should be established. Connectivity from Amravati to Guntur, Vijayawada and major South Indian cities through high speed train should be established. Funds for the Guntur - Chittoor Railway line should be released. Express trains from Vijayawada to Mumbai and Bengaluru should be introduced. Four pairs of express trains should be diverted to

Vishakhapatnam instead of stoppage at Duvvada which include the Howrah -

Yeshvantpur Duronto, Howrah-Yeshvantpur AC, Howrah - Prashanti Nilayam and

Kamakhya - Chennai. Stoppage of Coromandel Express and Howrah - Kanyakumari Express at Vizianagaram and 11 other express trains at

Road station should be provided. Passenger amenities at Anakapalle and

Yelamanchili stations should be improved. Reservation counters at Chodavaram and Madugula should be opened.

SHRI RAVINDRA KUMAR PANDEY: I demand to connect rail line from Parasnath to Giridih via Madhuban and to start construction of road over bridge at railway crossing near Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Junction, Gomoh.

There is a need to early completion of rest of the work of Giridih-Koderma rail line which is from Kavad to Giridih, complete the construction of rake point in Giridih and to lay new rail line from Radhagaon railway station to Hazaribag Zila Mile station. There is also need to start new Express/Superfast trains from Dhanbad to

New Delhi, Jan Shatabdi or EMU from Giridih to Ranchi via Madhupur and also start Express/Superfast trains from Dhanbad to Mumbai. A Halt station should be constructed in Swang between Bokaro thermal and Gomia station and Halt station at Sijua is necessary which is between Maheshmunda station and Fuljori Halt.

Railway crossing must be constructed near Jhariagadi village of Giridih Railway station. There should be stoppage of some trains at Chandrapura, Parasnath, Gomia and Mahuda stations to facilitate the passengers and Khanudih Memu train should be extended upto Gomoh from Aadra. SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR: The hon. Railway Minister while presenting the Railway Budget, has express a strategy of Nav Arjan, Nav Manak and Nav

Sanrachna. I expect that by changing the present norms, the functioning of the

Railways may change in a positive manner. The operating ratio for the year 2016-

17 will be 92 per cent which is likely to be 120 per cent. So, in the given circumstances, the Railway Minister should plan how he is going to implement the ambitious programme of laying new lines across the country. PPP Model is not a new model. Though they have 43,000 hectares of land, only 100 hectares of land was given under PPP. For the last two decades, the experience of the Railways with this PPP model is a failure. But the hon. Railway Minister has not given new ideas. I hope the Railway Minister will clarify. With regard to joint venture with the State Government, our State Government has acquired land for many railway lines and we are trying to hand over those lands but they have not come forward yet for laying of the railway lines. Coming to the other most important issues with regard to my state, they assured that one more Railway Division will be announced in the State of Telangana in Kazipet. But no announcement has been made since the last two years. They also assured us a coach factory in Kazipet. The hon.

Minister has to assure us about this. With regard to the execution of the world class railway station at Secunderabad and also with regard to the tourist express trains connecting all the tourist destinations in the five southern Indian States, beginning and ending at Secunderabad, which may be named as Southern

Splendour, I had made a request earlier. We also requested to connect a train between Hyderabad and the new state capital of Andhra Pradesh, Amaravati by a bullet train. With regard to the ROBs and RUBs in the State of Telangana our State

Government has come forward to pay some amount under annuity basis to the

Railways to construct these RUBs and ROBs but nothing is happening from the

Railway Ministry.

SHRI SATISH CHANDRA DUBEY : I request the hon. Minister to kindly take up the work of doubling of railway line from Paniwaha to Gorakhpur. Funds should be allocated for taking up the modernisation work of Bagah, Narkatiyaganj,

Ramnagar railway stations. Khairpokhra, Bhaironganj, Saathi stations are in a dilapidated condition. Therefore, there is a need for allocating funds for renovation of these stations. A washing pit should be constructed at Narkatiyaganj station. A DEMU train should be introduced between Bagah and Betia and it should ply twice a day so that working people could reach district headquarters easily. Similarly, a train should be introduced for Patliputra from Bagah and this train should depart from Bagah after 12 in the night and reach Patliputra in the morning. And it should depart from Patliputra in the evening so that it reaches

Bagah in the night at 12 O'clock or thereafter. Two overbridges are very important for our area. First is in the Cantonment area of Betia. Construction work on this overbridge should be undertaken immediately. The other overbridge should be constructed in front of the Bagah Sugar Mill and construction work should also be started on this. Narkatiyaganj is lagging behind in terms of development. I request the Government to introduce a train named Satyagraha train from Narkatiyaganj to

Delhi in this centenary year of Satyagraha Movement.

SHRI MD. BADARUDDOZA KHAN: The Government should give top priority to electrification of rail lines. I demand a new rail line from Behrampur to

Krishna Nagar via Domkal, Chalangi and Karimpur under Sealdah Division. The survey work on this line should be undertaken. My second demand is that the

Howrah-Farakka via Katua rail line should be electrified and funds should be allocated for the purpose. Thirdly, the hon. Minister has talked about elevated corridors for suburban areas. I demand that an elevated train line from Dumdum to

Sealdah should be constructed and funds should be allocated for the purpose. The bridge on the Bhagirathi river is almost complete but some dispute has cropped up there and this has stalled the work on this bridge. I request the hon. Minister to look into this matter. Funds have already been allocated for construction of two overbridges in Behrampur City. But the government has not yet given No

Objection Letter required for the purpose. Therefore, the Central Government and

State Government should find out a way out to this issue because the common man is on the receiving end due to this. The Toy Train in Darjeeling, West Bengal has already been declared a world heritage site. I would request the hon. Railway

Minister to provide some specific allocation for this Toy Train in this Budget itself.

SHRIMATI JAYSHREEBEN PATEL: I vehementally support the

Demands for grants of the Ministry of Railways moved by Hon'ble Railway

Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu. I move the demands of Gujarat and my constituency.

There is no direct rail link from Mehsana, Patan, Banaskantha, Sabarkantha,

Aravali in Gujarat to Surat, Mumbai, Pune and Southern India. Following trains have no stoppage at Mehsana and Unjha. 19107/19108 Ahmedabad-Ughanpur-

Ahmedabad, 19269/19270 Majarpur-Porbander-Majarpur (Motihari), 12245/12246

Jaipur-Bandra-Jaipur (Garib-Rath). All the trains should get stoppage at Mehsana.

Following trains operate once in a week. These should be run everyday.

19565/19566 Okha-Dehradun-Jaipur-Okha, 19573/19574 Jaipur, Okha-Jaipur ,

19579/19580 Delhi-Rajkot-Delhi. The headquarters of Western Railways should be brought to Ahmedabad (Gujarat). Valsad-Ahmedabad (Gujarat Queen) train should be extended to Patan-Mehsana. 16501/16502 Ahmedabad-Banglore-

Ahmedabad reaches 3.45 P.M. every Tuesday and starts at 18.00P.M. every evening. This train should be extended to Patan-Mehsana. Train NO. 22452-2251

Chandigarh-Bandra-Chandigarh which runs twice a week should be extended from

Chandigarh to Puna or Ambaidora. The religious place Ram Devra should be linked to Ahmedabad by introducing a special train. Gandhinagar is the capital of Gujarat so railway facilities should be increased. Rajdhani Express, Ashram

Express trains should have up-down facility there. In my constituency Mehsana

Venpura, Shankhalpura, Deussna, Ankhol, Chhatral should be opened again which have been shut down by the Railways. Direct Intercity Express to Palanpur/

Mehsana Surat should be started in Northern Gujarat. For Mehsana-Taranga

Gauge conversion amount of funds should be released. Railway track under

Visnagar unit and APMC level crossing is small, it should be widened.

Ahmedabad-Katra Express (19415) and (Mumbai Bandra to

Jammutavi) should be run on regular basis. Gujarat government has sent a proposal for freight of coal transport. This should be approved. Government should pay attention to the pending applications of construction and doubling of new railway lines under Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor in Gujarat state.

Government should also pay attention to the pending demand of new trains. The implementation work of facilities in Railways Budget should be completed. The speed of trains have been raised by pilot project, the benefits should reach to the all

16 zones. Survey should be conducted and approval should be accorded at the earliest to the new railway project which will connect tribal areas of Gujarat to

Khedbrahma, data, Taranga Hill, Ambaji and Abu road of Rajasthan.

SHRI BIRENDRA KUMAR CHOUDHARY: Sir, first of all I request for sanctioning of gauge conversion line of 120 km. of my Parliamentary Constituency. I urge the Hon'ble Minister the work regarding the construction of

Gauge Conversion between Sakri and Nirmali and from Jhanjharpur to Lokha should be started at the earliest. Railway Over Bridge should be constructed on

Jaynagar railway station on NH-104 and NH-105 and it should be given the status of International Station.

SHRI RAMESH CHANDER KAUSHIK: I express my gratitude towards the hon. Railway Minster for presenting a very good budget this year wherein efforts have been made to undertake all such projects which have been lying pending for more than ten to twenty years. I request the hon. Minister to start operation of trains at the earliest on the Sonepath-Gohana-Jind rail route where train of train operation has already been done. Stoppage for Shaire Punjab train

(12479-12498) be provided on Sonepat railway station of my constituency.

Electrification work on Rohtak to Julana and on Jind rail route has already been undertaken. I would request the hon. Minister to expedite the work as early as possible. Along with this, electrification work of Jind-Sapiton-Panipat-Gohana-

Rohtak rail route be also undertaken. The semi-bullet train introduced recently for

Agra be also provided for Chandigarh. Encroachment on vacant rail land should be removed and commercial activities should be started there to augment the income of the Railways. I thank the Minister for increasing the speed of trains. I express my gratitude to the Minister for accelerating pace of the work of the railways and work on old projects has also been galvanized.

SHRI VARAPRASAD RAO VELAGAPALLI: I compliment the hon.

Minister for awarding so many things to my constituency, Tirupati. One new train has been started from Shirdi to Tirupati. However, the issue which we have been raising that the train instead of being routed through Kadapa and Guntakal, the train may be routed through more potential areas like Gudur, and

Vijayawada so that the entire Andhra Pradesh could be covered. We also have been awarded two subways and ROB also has been sanctioned to us. More importantly, Nadikudi-Srikalahasti new track has been awarded Andhra Pradesh

Express which goes via Vijayawada. Coming from , it covers one part of the Andhra Pradesh, but there are other parts of Andhra Pradesh, like

Tirupati, Gudur, Nellore and Guntur. The State Reorganisation Act has provided a separate new Railway Zone at Vizag. Already more than two years are over. There is no reason why a small thing like this is pending. I would request the hon.

Minister to take this into consideration seriously. Modernization of Tirupati

Railway Station has been pending for a long time. Tirupati is an important place.

So, appropriate credit could be given to Tirupati. Another important thing that I want to mention and which is beneficial to all of us is about the meeting of the

General manager. Whenever the General manager call for an annual meeting with MPs, they are not applying their minds. They are not considering our request adequately. Therefore, we would request is that whenever there is meeting of the

General managers and the MPs, they should apply their minds. Another thing is about level crossings. These days, they are discontinuing level crossings at many places. They are telling that the money has to be mobilised by the local resources.

SHRI DODDAALAHALLI KEMPEGOWDA SURESH: The Railways are the lifeline of India. There has been gradual increase in number of passengers and passenger revenue over the years. I hope the government will do the needful for the electrification of all the existing lines and also to convert the existing meter gauges to broad-gauge and have uniformity in the entire rail network of the country. I request the Hon'ble minister to allocate more funds to complete all the pending projects in the state of Karnataka. The Bengaluru-Satyamangalam line was announced twenty years ago with an estimated cost of Rs. 901 crores. But so far it is not seen the light of the day. I would like to request hon. Railway Minister to provide the Budgetary allocation for the railway line between Chamarajanagar and

Bangalore via Kanakapura and Kollegal. The work on suburban railway project to

Bengaluru city should be expedited. I request the Union Government to complete electrification immediately and to ext end the MEMU services up to Channapatan.

The present AFTO is neither practical nor does it meets the demand. Kindly upgrade the facility to tap the freight transportation of commodities like fertilizers, molasses, edible oil etc. A new scheme needs to be launched to attract private investment in special purpose wagon required for transportation of these commodities. The high demand for wagons for freight traffic has to be addressed.

Railways should present themselves as a model to function as paperless office to all other government departments. All Divisions and Zonal Offices must implement Biometric System for more effective functioning of the offices. The

Railways have to launch intensive mechanized cleaning of coaches. To avoid huge crowd of passengers, government has to implement MRTS projects in almost all the metropolitan cities. Government should give more attention to implement

Train Protection and Warning System to alert the train drivers about the dual signal passing. The Train Collision Avoidance System also to be installed in all the major lines will be more helpful to avoid the accidents and collision.

SHRI SHARAD TRIPATHI: Our present government has started the work for making Indian Railways of international level despite all odds. The hon.

Railway Minister has created a history by laying 2500 km new railway line in a very short time since Independence. Not only this, our Government has created a record by completing the electrification work of 1500 km rail lines. The hon.

Minister has done a wonderful job by introducing the semi fast train from New

Delhi to Agra with a speed 160 km per hour. There are 942 railway sections which are being utilised beyond their capacity. Therefore, our hon. Minister has allocated more funds for the modernisation of these sections. Funds have been allocated for completion of the pending projects. A lion's share of the budget has been earmarked for the development of rail network in North-Eastern States. The maximum investment in the railways was Rs.40000 crore annually prior to our government came to power. It has been increased to rupees one lakh crore last year and presently, our government has created a record by allocating Rs. one lakh twenty one thousand crore on this count. Our Government has achieved the target of five per cent on non-ticketing revenue and we have set a target of ten per cent in coming times for the purpose. Lastly, I would like to congratulate the hon.

Railway Minister on behalf of the people of my parliamentary constituency for providing a train from Khalilabad station to Behraich via Bansi, Dumriaganj,

Utraula, Sravasti.

SADHVI SAVITRI BAI PHULE: My Parliamentary constituency

Bahraich is a district of Uttar Pradesh adjacent to Nepal. Even today it lacks railway connectivity to the State capital as well as national capital and the people are mainly dependent on roads. The government has allocated required funds for converting meter-gauge to broad-gauge of railway line connecting Gonda junction to Rupaidiha at Nepal border via Bahraich. I am sorry to say that no work has been started on that section. I request that this railway line should be converted to broad-gauge at the earliest. I also request to connect Bahraich and Jarwal stations through a railway line for providing connectivity to state capital, Lucknow. Also the Jarwal road station should be renamed as Jarwal road-Bahraich. The Kakraha station on Gonda-Mailani section should be abolished and a new station at Balchha

Chauraha should be set up and all the trains should stop there. Required directions should be issued for providing stoppages of all trains passing through Gaya Ghat

Halt on this section. I also request to introduce a new daily train namely Devi

Patan Express. Now the Sushasan Express runs only once a week. The frequency of this train should be increased. All the trains passing through Gonda Station should have their stoppage there. I also request to introduce a Rajdhani Express train from Delhi to Gorakhpur. New Delhi-Lucknow AC Express should be extended up to Gorakhpur. New Delhi to Dibrugarh Rajdhan Express should be run via Gonda-Gorakhpur-Chhapra on all the four remaining days of the week.

SHRI ARVIND SAWANT: At the outset, I would like to congratulate and thank the hon. Minister of Railways to bring a good budget after a long time. I appreciate him for providing the facility of elevated trains to the Mumbai city but the area between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal and Kalyan is deprived of this facility. I would like to make one more demand that the toilet facility should be provided in the lady compartments of all the local trains. Moreover, a heap of garbage can be seen on either side of the railway tracks during the train journey. A train having suction pump should be run to suck all the garbage. Proper attention should be paid to ensure the correct spelling of the names of the stations. Nander station should be brought under the administrative jurisdiction of the Central

Railway. Moreover, end to end bridge is required to be constructed from Parel to

Elphistone. Similarly, end to end bridges are required to be constructed from Khar road to Lalbagh and also in Sewri. I would like to make a request to you that recruitments at least to the posts of Group C and Group D should be made through regional employment exchange.

SHRI ARKA KESHARI DEO: I am very thankful to Hon. Railway

Minister for budgetary allocation for developing railways in my Parliamentary constituency - Kalahandi, in the State of Odisha. Kalahandi is located in the

Western Odisha region which is comparatively less developed than the coastal districts of the state. So, technology may be upgraded in order to ensure the security of the railway passengers. Timely running of trains reduces losses of railways as delay enhances the expenditure of the railways. a new railway line from Kanta-banji to Khariar to be taken up during the financial year 2016-17, as the survey has already been done.

SHRI JAI PRAKASH NARAYAN YADAV: The Railway is reflective of

Back-in-India, not of Make-in-India. Railway is incurring the loss of Rs.32,000 crore during 2016-17. You need to run simple trains like the Shatabdi, the

Rajdhani and EMUs and small trains instead of running bullet train. You should pay attention to the establishment of DRM office, Bhagalpur. Besides, the frequency of the Rajdhani trains should be increased for one more day at Jasidih. I would like to request the Hon. Minister of Railway to start a new intercity train from Banka station. A washing pit should be constructed at Banka and the

Vikramshila train should be extended to Banka. Sultanganj, Banka, Munger,

Jamui, Jamalpur, Bhagalpur and Kiul railway stations should be upgraded.

Sufficient funds should be given for the pending projects in Bihar. The construction of Badhiyarpur, Haveli, Kharagpur, Lakhipur, Badhat Manangpur railway sections should be started at the earliest. New railway line should be constructed between Banka Lakhipur Khaira and Badhat Nawada. The education and training being provided for Special Class Railway Apprentice at I.R.R.E.,

Jamalpur of Eastern Railways should not be discontinued. Jamalpur railway station should be modernized. Moreover, the New Delhi-Howrah Rajdhani

Express should be run via Jasidih for two days.

SHRIMATI RANJEET RANJAN: The Minister of Railways was expected to bring a visionary rail budget but this has disappointed people. At present, railway is undergoing huge crisis. About Rs.6-8 lakh crores was required for the old and pending projects. At the same time, the Minister of Railways also said that no new project would be announced and the old projects will be implemented. But a glaring variance between his statement and his act is getting continuously conspicuous to us. Only 26,269 km out of 65,808 km of railway lines are electrified. We have on an average of one kilometer of railway line on the population of 18,390 people. The middle class hardly gets confirm tickets. The security is a matter of grave concern for Indian railways as it has to face 20 major collisions, 350 derailments and about 80 level crossing accidents every year. The old railway lines, old coaches and old signal system are required to be changed to check such accidents. I would like to say that cutting edge automated technologies like rail protection warning system and railway collision avoidance system are required to be included in the operating system as soon as possible for this purpose.

DR. ARUN KUMAR: I am thankful to you for providing me an opportunity to speak. The revolutionary budget introduced by the Minister of Railways has instilled confidence into the people. The Government has given a push to the old project at Madhepura by allocating Rs.40,000 crore. The way the focus is being given on the modernization of railway, electrification, gauge conversion and dedicated freight corridor will give a new height to the development. The efforts are being made to provide rail connectivity to North-East which is strategically important for us. Bihta-Arwal, Anugrah Narayan Road, Islam, Hullasganj,

Khijarsarai, Manpur railway lines need to be constructed at the earliest. A weekly train plying from Gaya to Chennai should be extended to Tirupati. SHRI BHAIRON PRASAD MISHRA: Government has presented a good and praiseworthy Budget. I express my thanks for the proposals in the Budget regarding Doubling and Electrification of Jhansi-Manikpur and Kharera-Bhimsen line passing through my constituency. Proposals of halt of some trains are pending regarding Vadoosa and Khurhed and Artara. Kindly issue guidelines for stoppages in these respective areas. Special trains should be introduced by including

Khajuraho-Vdaypur Intercity in Manikpur rural and Chitrakut Dwar halt by including in pilgrimage circuit and tourist circuit. General coaches should be increased. The frequency of Tulsi Express and Chambal Express should be increased.

SHRI JANARDAN SINGH SIGRIWAL: People of Champaran have high hopes from Ministry of Railways. I request that my demands regarding the progress of Champaran should be fulfilled. A new superfast express train should be introduced between Champaran and New Delhi. Manned level crossing should be constructed on Shettalpur dhala between Sugalli-Ramgodhva. Loss of life due to several accidents have occurred here. I also request for adjustment of timings of a train between Motihari and Raxaul at 4 p.m. I urge that all passenger trains should be given a halt at Chellaha. I hope that all my demands would be fulfilled during current NDA regime so that Champaran develops. SHRI DUSHYANT CHAUTALA: A promise of running bullet train, high speed trains and trains for the transportation of milk and vegetables was made. But this seems to have stuck somewhere or the other. We will have to think for an alternative way for making the railway profit making. The way we have made most of the things online has provided us numerous facilities but the passengers have to face difficulties regularly due to poor connectivity. You should provide the facility of under railway line crossing where we are not able to provide the facility of same level crossing. We are required to provide the facility of electronic elevators or escalators as this facility is not available on a number of railway stations. At the same time, I would urge the Government to provide toilet facility at each of the railway platforms. The work relating to the Kisan Express should be transferred to the Bikaner division as it will facilitate the proper cleaning in it and the increasing of coaches from 11 to 17. Additional allocation should be made for

Hissar-Agroha rail line. The work of Maham-Hisar-Hansi railway line has been pending for long. It should be completed. The work of Uklana-Narvana line which connects with Chandigarh-Hissar-Sirsa rail line should be completed. The work of Hisar-Hansi-Jind rail line should be completed. Shatabadi Express should be run from Delhi via Rohtak-Bhiwani-Sirsa for one day in a week.

DR. KIRIT P. SOLANKI: Indian Railways is not only a transporter for reaching from one place to another but it is also provides a linkage of one place in India to another. This rail budget is going to take the Indian railways on to the path of modernization and rejuvenation. I would like express my gratitude to the government for initiating the proposals like starting the bullet train, introduction of suburban trains in Ahmedabad and setting up of a world class railway university at

Vadodara. As far as western railway is concerned, 75 to 80 percent of its network passes through Gujarat and it also receives revenue from the state in the same proportion. Therefore, it has been a long pending demand of the people of Gujarat that the headquarters of western railway should be created in Ahmedabad. This demand should be fulfilled.

SHRI AJAY MISRA TENI: I support the supplementary Demands for

Grants and urge the Government to take effective decision and start works regarding my demands for lakhimpur Kheri, Lok Sabha Constituency in Uttar

Pradesh. Gauge conversion work of Mallani- Bahraich Railway Line should be started at the earliest. Survey should be done regarding Pallia-Nighasan Belraga new railway line. Barrier and other arrangement should be made on unmanned level crossing of Lakhipur district. Rake point should be constructed on Gola-

Gokarannath Railway Station. Lakhimpur railway station should be developed as a smart railway station.

SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR: The Government should think over the rationale for starting the bullet train project. The travel by it would be very costly and the common people are likely to stay away from it. Today our country has been passing through critical situation and the way in which railways have been running into losses continuously clearly reveals that railways is on the brink of bankruptcy. Therefore, I would like suggest that the government should draw its lessons from the previous railway minister in order to bring railways out of the losses. The operating condition of the Rajdhani Express should be improved.

There should be a provision of compulsory reservation of seat in 3rd AC for the

Persons working as the personal assistance of the hon. Member of Parliament on the lines of facility of two 1st AC and one 2nd AC seat meant for the hon. Member of Parliament. The train from Patna to Ahmedabad runs once in a week. I request that it should be plied daily. One DMU train runs between Islampur to Patna. I request that an additional rake for this train should be provided so as to facilitate the people of the area. Second point is that Islampur is a very important trade center. I request that a goods godown should be developed there. One more DMU should be started between Rajgir and Biharsharif. Rajgir is a tourist place.

Therefore one DMU train should be started for it which plies via Biharsharif and

Daniyava.

SHRIMATI REKHA VERMA: Hon'ble Minister is requested to sanction laying of a new rail line from Golagokarn Nath to Farrukhabad via Mohammad

Shahjahanpur. Train no. 54075-54076 Delhi Passenger should be run from Sitapur again. I request for opening of one reservation centre each in five Legislative

Assembly constituency areas falling under my Lok Sabha constituency. A Railway hospital should be opened in Maholi Legislative Assembly area. There is not even a single waiting room at Bhaigalganj, J.B. Ganj, Hargaon and Mahoti. I request

Hon'ble Minister to kindly start construction of Jharekhapur Station at the earliest.

SHRIMATI ANJU BALA: Kindly ensure stoppage of Amarnath Express at Sandeela Railway Station for the facility of passengers travelling from Sandeela to Jammu and vice-versa. Also please construct overbridge at Sandeela. Mallava

Railway Station should be upgraded at the earliest and passenger amenities should be provided at the station. I also request for beautification of Naimisharanya and

Misrikh Railway Stations.

SHRI SUDHIR GUPTA: The work of doubling of Ratlam-Neemach and

Neemach- Chittorgarh Railway lines should be started at the earliest.

Electrification of Ratlam-Chittorgarh line should be commenced at the earliest.

Laying of rail line at Suvasara - Mandsaur, Mandsaur - Pratapgarh, Ramganjmandi

- Neemach, Neemach Sigoli Kota Javra, Nagda should be started soon. Kindly provide all the required amenities at all the Railway Stations falling under my constituency. SHRI RAHUL KASWAN: Full allocation may be made for the expenditure likely to be incurred on Railway crossing C 142 in the current financial year and work should be started at the earliest. The work pertaining to gauge conversion of Churu-Sikar rail line should be completed by next financial year. The gauge conversion of Sikar-Jaipur rail line should be completed in one year. The gauge conversion of Ratangarh-Sardarshahar rail line which is already underway should be completed at the earliest. Bandra-Jammu Tawi Vivek Express,

Bandra-Hissar, Howrah - Jaisalmer weekly trains should be run daily/ their frequency may be increased. Train no. 14705/14706 should be run daily and extended upto Hardwar or Roorkee. Passenger train no. 54011/54012 should be extended upto Sadulpur junction.

SHRI RAJESH RANJAN: The political dispensation of the country has always done discrimination between the common man and elites. It would be very hard to envisage the true success of bullet train without bringing in smiles on the faces of common man. I would like to whether the government propose to provide free and accessible train facility for those students, patients suffering from serious ailments who belong to the BPL section of the society. Do the government propose to make special arrangement of rail journey for those poor persons who are eager to undertake pilgrimage through rail route. If the government is willing to march on the path of progress than it is essential that the lives of common man is brought back on the tracks. It is absolutely essential that rail tracks are laid up to the village level and every platform is provided toilet facilities.

SHRI RAVINDER KUSHAWAHA: The Supplementary Rail Budget for the year 2016-17 is absolutely balanced, development oriented and commendable.

Most provisions of the budget will have far reaching effects. I put forth few demands before the hon'ble Minister of Railways pertaining to development of my

Parliamentary constituency. Bhatani junction-Varansi section under the North- eastern Railway should be doubled and electrified. Trains like Rajdhani and

Duranto should be started on Delhi-Lucknow-Gorakhpur-Chhapra-Barauni route and stoppage to these trains should be provided at Dewaria Sadar Railway station.

Overbridges should be constructed near Bhatpar Rani Railway station and Bilthara road Railway station. Salempur, Bilthara Road, Bhatni, Bhatpar Rani Railway stations should be beautified and Deluxe toilets should be constructed at these railway stations and safe drinking water should also be made available at these stations. Washing pit at Bhatni railway station should be restarted. The height of the platforms of Rewati and Sahatwar Railway Stations should raised. Level crossings should be constructed between the Salempur and Peeukol railway stations.

SHRI ARJUN LAL MEENA: I support this Rail Budget and request the hon'ble Minister of Railways to pay attention on the demands pertaining to my parliamentary constituency Udaipur. Udaipur-Ujjain section should be declared as tourist circle and accordingly all the facilities and train services should be provided. Provisions should be in the current budget for laying of Dungarpur-

Banswada-Ratlam rail line. A train should be introduced to Haridwar from Udaipur via Ajmer. Vaishno Devi Pooja Express should be extended upto Udaipur.

SHRI CHANDRA PRAKASH JOSHI: I support this Rail Budget and request the hon'ble Minister of Railways that prompt attention should be paid on my main demands relating to my Parliamentary Constituency Chittorgarh.

Udaipur-Ujjain section should be declared a tourist circle and accordingly all the facilities should be made available. Neemach-Badi-Saidi-Mawli-Marwad rail route should be sanctioned. Chittorgarh-Kota and Neemach-Mahu rail route should be doubled. A survey should be conducted at the earliest for laying of Mandsaur-

Pratapgarh rail line.

SHRI GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT: There has been an exemplary work in the direction of making railways more people friendly and convenient. Concrete steps have been taken for the modernization of railways and also to increase its speed limit. I represent Jodhpur. Lakhs of people of western

Rajasthan live in South India for business and they have contributed in the growth of the economy of those states. Unfortunately, both the trains connecting Jodhpur to Chennai and Bengaluru still run on weekly basis since their beginning. Kindly increase train frequencies and start more trains on these routes.

SHRI DADDAN MISHRA: This budget will instill a new ray of hope and inculcate a new sense of confidence for the debt trapped railways which has been facing resource crunch. This rail budget has laid the foundation of realizing the dream of achche din for the railways. Particular attention has been paid towards the development of infrastructure and capacity creation for meeting aspiration and dreams of the country men. This budget, apart from being the one fulfilling the aspiration of the people is also the budget for meeting the aspiration of people of my constituency. The demand of connecting my constituency Sravasti with rail line has been a long pending one. Not only the announcement of constructing a rail line has been made in the coming budget but budgetary provision has also been made in this respect. I demand that work should be started at the earliest by earmarking of funds. Bahraich-Bhinga rail line should be extended upto Tulsipur.

The announcement for constructing maximum number of 910 ROBs was made in the previous year budget but my constituency fail to get even a single ROB. I urge that the demand of constructing three to four ROBs for my constituency should be met at the earliest.

SHRI NANA PATOLE: I request the hon. Minister of Railways to take notice of my demands pertaining to my Parliamentary Constituency Bhandara- Gondia for improving the railway stations and rail lines. Gondia Ballarshah railway line should be doubled and the underpasses constructed in the past be improved. Railway platforms should be modernised and Bhandara Railway station should be upgraded. A separate rail line should be constructed for godown near

Bhandara Railway station. Stoppage should be provided to all the superfast trains at Bhandara Railway station. A separate railway zone should be created at Nagpur.

An intercity train should be introduced between Shegoan and Gondia. A Railway hospital should be opened in Bhandara district. Bhandara-Gondia and Tumsar

Tirada Railway stations should be developed further and beautified and all the passenger amenities should be made available at these railway stations.

SHRI RAMESH POKHRIYAL NISHANK: I express my thanks for providing opportunity to speak on Demands for grants for the year 2016-17.

Whether it is economy or the financial management of Railway, everywhere change is visible. This year 1000 railway stations will have the facility of clean potable water, toilets and retiring rooms. Till now 946 railway stations have been made model railway stations. India will get a soft loan of Rs. 79000 crores on 0.1 percent interest from Japan. Four special type of trains will be operated. These are

Hamsafar, Antyodaya, Tejas and Uday. Special efforts have been made by railways to find out new resources of revenue. An ambitious target of Rs. 1,84,820 crore has been stipulated for the year 2016-17. There is a proper coordination between vision and mission. The most appreciable step is that Railway Minister has saved Rs. 8700 crores which is a glaring example of cost-compression. It has also mentioned that railway has fixed a target of 95 percent on line operation, that shows how the working of railway is going to be changed completely. In this rail budget every section has been paid due attention.

I request to start work immediately on Rishikesh-Karn Prayag railway line to facilitate the Chardham pilgrims and tourists. The work of laying railway lines should be started immediately between Rishikesh -Doiwala so that there could be direct connectivity. Work should be started on Devband-Jhabreda route. Lahori

Express should be given a hault on Athal Bujurg station. Rail routes between UP and Uttarakhand should be upgraded and the work of doubling of rail lines should be sped up. Work on Tanakpur Bageshwar railway line may be sped up. High speed trains should be operated from Mumbai, Jaipur, Kolkata, Bangluru etc. to

Haridwar, Haldwani and Kathgodam. On all the railway crossings of Haridwar and Dehradun districts, railway crossing overhead bridges should be constructed.

From all the Headquarters in the country, trains should be operated for Haridwar.

SHRI RAJEEV SATAV: A direct rail line between Punjab and

Marathwada should be developed. The DRM office Nanded should be bifurcated and Mumbai should be connected to the central railways. A Railway University should be set up at Hingoli in the memory of Shri Gopinath Munde. The pilgrim circuit in Maharashtra should be provided rail connectivity. Hingoli should be developed as a model station. Approximately 800 trains pass from GM office during the holiday special. At least 50 trains should pass from my constituency.

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE : Railways is the lifeline of the Indian economy. Indian Railways(IR) is currently facing reduction in freight traffic and decrease in passenger traffic. There was an increase in Tatkal fares by 33 per cent in December, 2015. They increased the upper class rail fares by 4 per cent in

November, 2015. The Tatkal cancellation fares were also increased. Now, in the budget it was mentioned that there will be no fare hike. More than two lakh vacancies are to be filled in the Railways. Nothing has been mentioned on filling these posts. Immediate steps need to be taken to reduce the number of accidents in railways. There are 10,000 unmanned crossings all over the country. Travel safety in trains is very important. There is need of installation of CCTV cameras. Steps need to be taken to increase safety in overnight trains and in ladies coaches. The budget mentioned : we will exploit new sources of revenue. We need more information and transparency in alternate routes of revenue. There has been no real ground work done in the stations meant to be developed as adarsh stations. I would now like to list down 4 issues which are of utmost importance to common passengers and determine their railway experiences. There are unclean stations, unclean toilets on trains, train delays and food on trains. I request to consider increasing number of woman coaches in passenger trains. Declare Pune-Daund section as sub urban zone similar to Pune-Lonavla section to provide DMU services to the commuters from this region under Pune Division. Increase the limit of MST from 150 km to 500 km so that it could be beneficial to the passengers.

The doubling between Daund-Manmad is also now very necessary as the electrification work is almost completed. It is very necessary to do the Second

Track along with electrification between Daund-Baramati. To re-develop the

JEJURI Railway Station, the holy place of Maharashtra under Indian Railway

Stations Development Scheme.

KUWAR PUSHPANDRA SINGH CHANDEL : I express my thanks for giving me opportunity to speak on Demands for Grants. Hon. Railway Minister, you have accepted my long awaited demand for a new railway line via Mahoba-

Charkhari-Rath-Urai in the present railway budget. This is your kindness shown to the public of my parliamentary constituency Hamirpur. You have also included the doubling work of Jhansi-Manandpur and Khairada-Bhaisane railway line whose total length is 411 km. I am thankful for this also. I request you to direct officials to start these both works at the earliest so that these both works are completed in 4 to 5 years period. I also put forth my following demands.

A train from Khujuraho to Lucknow via Mahoba-Maraundh-Khairada-

Ragaul-Sumerpur-Kanpur should be introduced. A new train from Ujjain to Ayodhya via Bhopal-Tikamgarh-Chhatarpur-Mahoba-Maudaha-Hamirpur-Kanpur-

Lucknow should be introduced. A new train from Khajuraho to new Delhi should be introduced. Betwa Express, Garib Rath, Tulsi Express Chambal Express should be operated daily.

THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI SURESH PRABHU) replying said: Railway is the property of our nation. There is a need for a strategy to bring railways back on track. We have not been able to have the kind of roadmap and planning which is required for the development of the Railways till date. That is why we are making a 2030 plan which will not be formulated by the Railway

Ministry alone ,rather it will include the participation of all the states governments, all the MPs and various stakeholders of our country. It is true that we have not been able to fulfill the demands of the people so far . So we have to think differently in any case. Our aim is to reorganise, restructure and rejuvenate the

Indian Railways. We have already submitted action taken report to the house on the points we made in the last budget. Never in the history of the Railway has such action taken been report submitted. But we have done it. I believe it is our duty to inform the people about the work we are doing. We have talked of Seven

Missions. The first Mission is Mission 25 tone axle load through maximum freight loading will be done on same rolling stocks leading to increase in the revenue.

There is a Mission PACE under which procurement and consumption efficiency have been emphasized. Unless we resort to cost cutting and keep on increasing our revenue only then our expenditure will remain the same. That is why we have paid attention to procurement and consumption efficiency. Under Mission Raftar, we had laid emphasis on how we can run high trains. We have not only talked of running bullet trains in the country but also increasing the speed of ordinary trains plying in the country. Besides Mission of Commissioning of 100 sidings and freight terminals and Mission Beyond Book Keeping are also included in our missions. We need to change the country's system. We must go for outcomes.

Therefore, outcome oriented accounting is what we should initiate. In the year

2015-16, we completed doubling of 273 km and in the year 2016-17 we completed doubling of 1600 km. Last year, we laid new rain lines of 813 km. We have also done conversion of 1045 km. In the year 2014-15, we had doubling projects of

Rs.3881 crore and in the year 2015-16 we provided Rs.9007 crore for this purpose. In the year 2016-17, we have made a provision of Rs.25119 crore.

Therefore instead of decreasing the amount for doubling, it has been increased. So far as electrification is concerned, in the year 2016-17 the target is 3396 km and we have increased the allocation to Rs. 2000 crore. We are creating a safety fund of rupee one lakh crore to reduce fatalities and causalities. In this year itself we are setting up a Mission Shreshta, a dedicated research and development organization to invest in future. We are also creating a Railway Planning and Investment Organization. We are also working on expanding freight basket. We are also rationalizing tariff structure. Regarding development fund or depreciation fund, I want to say that development fund is used for some of the developmental works like traffic facilities etc. But now if you only confine yourself to doing developmental work from development fund, then we cannot spend any amount of money. You must compare the entire basket of how we are going to incur the capital expenditure. Next year the provision is Rs.1,21,000 crore. Regarding starting new trains, we are starting Antyodaya Express, Deen Dayalu coahces and

Tejas. We have also started Gatiman Train from Delhi to Agra. We have also set up first rail university in the country. One Member has asked about capital expenditure. I want to tell him that we have made capital expenditure of almost

Rs.94,000 crore. Keeping in view global practices we have roped in PSUs like

IRCON, Konkan Railway, RITES and RVNL and given them mobilization advance to implement our projects. Regarding depreciation reserve in 2014-15, while the appropriation was Rs.7,975 crore, expenditure was Rs.7,287 crore. Last year, 2015-16, the appropriation was Rs.5,700 crore and the expenditure is

Rs.7,300 crore. This year, 2016-17, the appropriation is Rs.3,400 crore but we are going to spend Rs.7,160. The balance of Rs.4,000 crore will be met through sale of scrap. Core railway development is normally undertaken through

CAPEX. We are now spending Rs.1,21,000 crore for CAPEX. The CAPEX source has increased by 63 per cent in 2015-16 and I expect it to rise further by 25 per cent. The same thing is there with respect to the rolling stock. There was a provision of Rs.16,490 crore for rolling stock in 2014-15. In 2015-16, it was

Rs.19,088 crore. In 2016-17, it is Rs.27,278 crore. Where is it coming from? It is coming essentially from EBR, extra-budgetary resources, like bonds etc. The

IRFC is finding funding for this. In 2016-17, Rs.21,830 crore will be spent from

IRFC money. Regarding overall CAPEX number, in 2014-15, the GBS was

Rs.30,121 crore which increased to Rs.37,745 crore in 2015-16 and in 2016-17.

We have gone to Rs.45,000 crore. Internal resources, which were Rs.15,347 crore in 2014-15, have gone up to Rs.16,574 crore in 2015-16 and it is almost the same at Rs.16,675 crore for 2016-17. EBR has dramatically improved from Rs.11,000 crore to Rs.39,476 crore this year and to Rs.59,325 crore next year. The

Depreciation Fund which has gone up from Rs.16 crore to Rs.1,021 crore in 2014-

15 and Rs.1,682 crore next year and Rs.1,777 crore this year. Regarding increasing funds for RUBs and ROBs, we increased it to Rs.1,024 crore. In fact, on unmanned level crossings, from 2009 to 2014, Rs.1,139 crore was the amount spent. We increased it to Rs.1,253 crore. With regard to liability of loan, the

Indian Railways ratio is not even 17 per cent including the future borrowings. We are introducing the concpet of equity IRR and debt service coverage ratio to ensure that returns are evaluated in a holistic manner. High-speed Railway has many components. We are trying to increase the speed of all Railway operations. I thank the former Prime Minister who signed a MoU with the Japanese Prime Minister and he said that we must start a high-speed Railway in India and for that they commissioned a feasibility study. When our Government came to power, we commissioned a study and the study gave us a Report. They have concluded that this project will be viable if we finance it by a very low cost of interest. There is a standalone project for high speed railways. The fund allocated to this project will not be diverted to other project. This project is not going to benefit the people of Mumbai and Ahemadabad only, rather it will be useful for the development of the railway in the entire country. Similarly, we also propose to complete all the unfinished projects whose number has come down to 107 last year. In this year's budget, we have provided Rs.2,779 crore to Karnataka and Rs.2,823 to Andhra Pradesh. In Assam and

North-East, it was only Rs.2,334 crore in 2013-14 which has become Rs.5,340 crore.

In Bihar, in 2013-14, it was Rs.1,244 crore which has gone upto Rs.3,177. In

Chhatisgarh, it has gone up from Rs.379 crore in 2013-14 to Rs.1,738 crore.

The Discussion was concluded.

All the cut motions were put to vote and negatived.

All the Demands for Grants (Railways) were voted in full.

APPROPRIATION (RAILWAYS) NO. 2, 2016

The Bill was passed.

ANOOP MISHRA Secretary General

© 2016 BY LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NOTE: It is the verbatim Debates of the Lok Sabha and not the Synopsis that should be considered authoritative.

English and Hindi versions of Synopsis of Debates are also available at http://loksabha.nic.in.