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 Odisha. (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 Andhra Pradesh. (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 - GENERAL DISCUSSION 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 Indian Railways 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. Antyodaya express 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.