LOK SABHA ___ SYNOPSIS OF DEBATES (Proceedings other than Questions & Answers) ______ Tuesday, March 20, 2012 / Phalguna 30, 1933 (Saka) ______ INTRODUCTION OF MINISTER THE PRIME MINISTER (DR. MANMOHAN SINGH) introduced his Cabinet colleague Shri Mukul Roy to the House who has recently been inducted in the Council of Ministers as the Minister of Railways. STATEMENT BY MINISTER Re: Accident at unmanned railway crossing near Hathras, North-Eastern Railways, resulting in loss of Human lives THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MUKUL ROY): I am pained to apprise the House regarding an unfortunate incident that occurred today at an Unmanned Level Crossing wherein one mini van carrying 22 persons and a dead body dashed against Train No. 51976 Mathura - Kasganj Passenger at about 07.23 hours on 20.03.2012 between Hathras City and Mendu stations of Mathura- Kasganj section of Izzatnagar Division of North Eastern Railway. In this incident, 15 persons travelling in the mini van lost their lives and three persons suffered injuries, whereas four persons jumped out of the van and saved themselves. This incident took place at a 'C' class unmanned level crossing with very low traffic density (1050 Train Vehicle Unit as per Census done in November, 2009). No passenger travelling in the train was injured or killed in this incident. Medical Relief was immediately despatched through an Accident Relief Medical Train (ARME) which departed Kasganj at 07.55 hours and reached the site of occurrence at 09.15 hours. However, local public and civil authorities had shifted the injured to nearby hospital by the time the ARME reached the site. The injured were moved to a local hospital at Badhwa and those requiring special medical attention were sent to Medical College at Aligarh. General Manager, North Eastern Railway and Divisional Railway Manager, Izzatnagar have proceeded to the site of the accident. As per preliminary information received, the incident occurred due to the negligent driving by the driver of the mini van. The driver did not stop his van at the Stop Board short of level crossing to check for approaching train as prescribed in the Section 131 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. On humanitarian grounds, an ex gratia amount of rupees two lakh each to the next of the kin of deceased, Rs.50,000 to the grievously injured and Rs.25,000 to persons who sustained simple injury has been announced. On behalf of Railways and myself, I express deep condolences to the bereaved families and also express sincere sympathies to the injured. I trust the House will join me in extending heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families. *MATTERS UNDER RULE 377 (i) SHRI P. VISWANATHAN laid a statement regarding need to open a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Kancheepuram city, Tamil Nadu. (ii) SHRI VILAS MUTTEMWAR laid a statement regarding need to accord approval for the establishment of Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research at Nagpur, Maharashtra. (iii) SHRI JAGDAMBIKA PAL laid a statement regarding need to start construction of Theme Park immediately at Kapilvastu in Siddharth Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh. (iv) SHRI MANICKA TAGORE laid a statement regarding need to promote and explore use of wind energy in Tamil Nadu to address the problem of shortage of power in the State. (v) SHRI R. DHRUVANARAYANA laid a statement regarding need to include Soliga Tribe living in the Chamarajanagar Parliamentary Constituency, Karnataka in the list of Primitive Tribal Groups. (vi) SHRIMATI BOTCHA JHANSI LAKSHMI laid a statement regarding need to permit export of additional 20 lakh bales of cotton. * Laid on the Table as directed by the Speaker. (vii) SHRI BHOOPENDRA SINGH laid a statement regarding need to undertake repair of National Highway No. 86 between Makronia to Chhattarpur in Madhya Pradesh. (viii) SHRI VIRENDRA KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to repair and re-construct NH 76 on Jhansi-Chhattarpur-Bamitha section and NH 84 between Kanpur-Dewas. (ix) SHRI HARIN PATHAK laid a statement regarding need to set up a Coast Guard Station at Hazira, Gujarat to strengthen maritime security. (x) SHRI SURESH ANGADI laid a statement regarding need to abolish the system of collection of entry tax in cantonment areas of Belgaum, Karnataka. (xi) SHRI R. K. SINGH PATEL laid a statement regarding need to provide free irrigation and power facilities to farmers in the country particularly in Bundelkhand region. (xii) DR. SHAFIQUR RAHMAN BARQ laid a statement regarding need to set up police booth in the vicinity of the residences of Members of Parliament in Delhi to ensure safety from anti-social elements and burglars. (xiii) SHRI VISHWA MOHAN KUMAR laid a statement regarding need to provide adequate compensation to families displaced due to acquisition of their land for construction of bridge on river Kosi in Bihar. (xiv) SHRI SUVENDU ADHIKARI laid a statement regarding need to connect Mecheda with Ranichak and Haldia through NH 41 in West Bengal. (xv) SHRIMATI J. HELEN DAVIDSON laid a statement regarding need to enhance security and welfare of fishermen in the country. (xvi) SHRI M. VENUGOPALA REDDY laid a statement regarding need to establish a Chilli Board in Palnadu area of Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh. (xvii) DR. RAGHUVANSH PRASAD SINGH laid a statement regarding need to repair National Highway from Chhapra to Muzaffarpur and from Muzaffarpur to Barauni in Bihar. (xviii) SHRI BALIRAM JADHAV laid a statement regarding need to expedite constrtuction of railway line between Dahanu and Nasik, introduction MEMU service between Dahanu and Valsad and EMU service between Dahanu and Churchgate in Maharashtra. THE BUDGET (RAILWAYS) – 2012-13-GENERAL DISCUSSION DEMANDS FOR GRANTS ON ACCOUNT (RAILWAYS) – 2012-13 SUPPLEMENTARY DEMANDS FOR GRANTS (RAILWAYS)- 2011-12 AND DEMANDS FOR EXCESS GRANTS (RAILWAYS)-2009-10 SHRIMATI SUMITRA MAHAJAN initiating the discussion, said: whenever railway budget is presented, the entire country expects it to be the budget for the entire country but in practice we get to see that whenever railway budget is presented then only populist announcements are made and budget is rendered to be merely an arrangement for providing facilities to one’s own region. The priorities of the budget keep on changing continuously. I would appreciate the former Minister for setting up two committees which considered over the modernization and safety aspects of the Railways in a manner that projects are not divided and they are formulated in a wholesome manner. The first sentence of the report submitted by the Anil Kakodakar committee is that the financial state of Indian Railways is on the brink of collapse unless some concrete measures are taken. The second committee constituted under the Chairmanship of Sam Pitroda has remarked “At present, the Indian Railways is close to falling into the vicious circle of diminishing efficiency, falling safety standards, eroding share in national freight and passenger traffic and possibly ending up as a burden on the national economy instead of being its bulwark and vital support”. It has also talked about fifteen focus areas. The Minister of Railways in his budget speech has remarked that these focus areas will require an amount of Rs. 5.6 lakh crore if we want to implement and improve it fully. Similarly, Vision-2020 require an amount of Rs. 14 lakh crore over a period of ten years which means that an amount of Rs. 1.4 lakh crore is required every year. However, the budget we have in our hand today has a provision of 60 thousand and 100 crore rupees only which is about 42 per cent of the annual amount we are talking about. Now the question arises is that even though very ambitious schemes have been formulated and Expert Committees have been constituted but what do we have on our hands today? The amount allocated under various schemes is ridiculously low as compared to the requirement. In this budget, there is a target of increasing the freight by 5.6 per cent to take it upto 1025 million metric tonnes which was 970 million metric tonnes last year. There is also a mention of increasing the passenger fare. By taking all these measures, there is a target of earning Rs. 1 lakh 32000 crore. Target of 27.6 per cent increase in revenue earnings is sought to be achieved by Railways. A very rosy picture has been painted. However, I would like to know whether any attention has been paid as to how much inflation increase it will lead to. Freight rates were suddenly revised while issuing a notification on 6th of March under which not only the slabs of the freight carriage in kilometer were changed but the foodgrains were also taken out of the concession advantage being enjoyed under category 130A implying that pulses, rice, wheat etc. will share the increase of revised freight rate. It is well known that transportation cost upto 15% is added to the final cost of goods. If such an addition takes place, it will result in an increase of 56 paise per kilogram and taking into account the profit component, foodgrains will become costlier by Rs. One to one and half per kilograms. Such will be the extent of inflation. Not only the foodgrains will become costlier but coal will also become dearer resulting in increased cost of power generation which will ultimately be borne by the common man. The expert committees have also suggested for setting up of several authorities. It will lead to loss of credibility and dampen the pace of work. Particular attention has to be paid towards this aspect. Besides, the issue of PPP project has also come to the fore. However, PPP has to be understood in its true essence in that the partners have to meet their respective responsibilities and taking advantage of concessionary regime should not be the only motive for such partnership.