RAJYA SABHA _________ ∗SUPPLEMENT TO SYNOPSIS OF DEBATE _________ (Proceedings other than Questions and Answers) _________ Tuesday, July 22, 2014/Ashadha 31, 1936 (Saka) ________ (A) The Budget (Railways) 2014-15 General Discussion (B) GOVERNMENT BILLS I. The Appropriation (Railways) No. 2 Bill, 2014-Contd. II. The Appropriation (Railways) No. 3 Bill, 2014-Contd. SHRI JOY ABRAHAM: We, the people of Kerala, are thoroughly disappointed with this Budget. There is no new train, except a small train. No new surveys, except one small survey. No bullet trains, no suburban trains, no coach factory, no wagon factory. There is a mention of periodic revision of fares in the Budget. It says that the revision is linked to the revision in the fuel prices. If diesel is de-controlled, the oil giants and oil monopolies, will call the shots. Hon. Minister should withdraw the proposal of periodic revision linked to fuel prices. I welcome the proposal regarding security. 17,000 RPF personnel will be deployed in future and 4,000 woman constables will be deployed. It is all right because the incidents of robbery and looting are on the increase, especially in long distance trains. Now, I would like to make a point on behalf of all the MPs. A few months back, Railways had exerted all the MPs to join it in the developmental programmes with the MPLADS funds. I myself have ___________________________________________________ ∗This Synopsis is not an authoritative record of the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha. 146 given Rs.17.5 lakhs for a FOB at the Piravom railway station. The Railways now insist that I should give an undertaking that I accept the liability to bear any increase in cost over the above estimated cost. As the Railways have estimated and the estimate is approved, they should take the responsibility for any escalation above the estimated cost. I welcome the proposal made for revamping the railway reservation system. I have perused the regulations and rules, and found that the rules are not all transparent. There is utter confusion. Not only the railway reservation system should be revamped, but the existing rules should also be revamped so that it may not be misused. SHRI V. HANUMANTHA RAO: I want to say that they have given new names to the old items in the budget presented by them. Fast train has been converted into bullet train. Rs. 60,000 crores will be spent on them. What is the need for that? Attention should be paid to the stations, to the rail lines, old tracks should be repaired. If separate lines for the goods trains will be laid, the income of the Government will also increase. There would not have been any need to increase the freight by 6.5 percent. There is a single line on Nadikudi-Bibinagar route in our region. Several trains run on this line. It is said that this line would be doubled. It is also said that Sikandarabad railway station would be upgraded upto the international standard. But it has not been done to date. Kachiguda railway station has not been modernised. Similarly, Nampalli railway station has not been modernised. People get several facilities in Hyderabad through MMTS. Hyderabad has become crowded. It should be expanded. It was that a coach factory would be set up in Kajipet. But nothing has been done so far. PPP should not be implemented. If the railway stations will be brought under PPP, the poor people will not be seen at railway station. I request that Hyderabad and Sikandarabad stations should be modernised. Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have become separate states. Telangana is a backward state, therefore, both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh should get justice. SHRI AVINASH RAI KHANNA: No such promise has been made in the budget, which can not be fulfilled by the Government. Railways is called the lifeline of the country. Railway is supposed to serve the people, give them facilities and employment. It 147 should also be the priority of the Railways to ensure that the rail journey is completed without any untoward incident. I request that provision of e-ticketing should also be there for Members of Parliament. Promises to land owners, whose land was acquired by Railway for projects in Jammu and Kashmir, have not been fulfilled. They have been promised job and adequate compensation. Therefore, they may be provided job and adequate compensation as per promised. I request that rail connectivity between Anandpur Sahib to Amritsar should be considered. I urge to the Government that DMU, which goes to Jalandhar from Udhampur for maintenance, should be run as a train as a result thereof Government will get revenue and it will not be a waste of resources. There should be a reservation facility at Udhampur station. If bullet train will be introduced in India then country's name will be famous in the world. SHRI RANBIR SINGH PARJAPATI: Indian Railway is a big and unique organisation. I request that work on the Rohatak- Meham-Hansi rail line may be started as early as possible. I urge that the work on projects announced in the last Rail budget should be started as early as possible. I congratulate the hon'ble Prime Minister for conducting survey on Hisar-Narwana Railway line. I also request that the said rail line should be materialised early by completing the said survey. I shall request that survey for Jind-Kurukshetra rail line be may included. Kurukshetra- Haridwar rail line survey should also be considered. Rail track between Sirsa to Elanabad should be laid as it will help in movement of Army and transportation of Army material. There is a long pending demand of citizens of Hisar for constructing an underpass at Hisar-Sadalpur rail line as people are facing problem due to this. A crossing should be build for the farmers of Deva village. Government should reconsider to discontinuation the stoppage of Shatabdi at Jind. We have a long pending demand of Hisar- Amritsar intercity via Vyas. SHRI PANKAJ BORA: We had very high hopes with the first Railway Budget of the NDA Government that we would get a good Budget. But it disappointed us. The passenger fares and freight rates have been raised. It is putting a lot of pressure on the commuters. 148 I am sorry to state that instead of being a welfare-oriented budget, it is a business-oriented budget. This has nothing to do with the common people. 100 per cent FDI shall have its grave consequences. We are also for PPP but there should be a balance and that balance is missing from this Budget. What about people belonging to small cities like ours, and, people belonging to the far flung areas of the North East where there are no long distance trains for them? I do not wish to speak much about bullet trains. It sounds well but everybody has stated that with the cost escalation and everything, the bullet trains is actually a pipe dream. Out of 58 new trains, only six trains have been given to the north-east. There is no introduction of long-distance trains. We have been asking for trains like Duronto and other speedy trains but we have not got one till date. Issues like the journey time and other facilities for the passengers have not been looked into. The suburban services are totally neglected in Assam and the north-east area. Not a single ROB has been sanctioned for Assam or north east. I hope it will be included in the Railway Budget. There is no reference to doubling and electrification. We are asking for a second rail bridge over the Brahmaputra near Saraighat Bridge in Guwahati which has also been neglected. I demand that there should be a Rail Neer factory in Assam. My request to hon. Railway Minister is, please give a thought to increase the track kilometre so that the connectivity of the North-East comes around. Otherwise, the feeling goes to us that we are neglected. North-East is a very sensitive area, being covered by international borders on all sides therefore we need better connectivity. SHRIMATI BIMLA KASHYAP SOOD: I support this Railway budget. Indian railway is the lifeline of the country. Hike in fares does not hurt if we get proper cleanliness, security arrangement, clean toilets clean premises and clean potable drinking at Railway stations. Rail fares have not been increased due to vote-politics. How the shortage of coaches would be met? We have many unmanned railway crossings in the country where lots of accidents take place due to shortage of the staff. I want to congratulate the Government who thought to run the bullet train. The food in the train 149 should be of good quality and special care should be taken for cleanliness of the pantry car and passengers get clean drinking water. Nobody would mind to pay little more for all this. Charo dham would be connected through rail and income of railway wouldl increase by this and it will promote tourism. Announcement of university of railway by minister is a welcome step. I would request the railway minister to make arrangement for laying broad guage line for Shimla. SHRI PYARIMOHAN MOHAPATRA: I must congratulate the hon. Railway Minister, for bringing forward a comprehensive Railway Budget and for not being greedy, about his one State. I would urge upon the hon. Minister to find out how projects worth Rs.57,000 crore have been added in the last three years. These newer projects must be reviewed. I would request that if Government complete the ongoing projects, needs of most of the areas which are commercially viable, which are backward and not covered, and where track per kilometre ratio is much lower than the national average, like in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, will be met, particularly KBK area, which is very backward, which is right on the borders of Chhattisgarh.