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Lalu announces a bonanza for railwaymen

NEW DELHI: Acknowledging the contribution of railwaymen in achieving record revenue earning in freight loading by the Indian Railways during the last fiscal, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has announced cash awards amounting to Rs. 17.40 crore for officers and staff of all zonal railways.

In the last financial year (2007-08), the Railways carried the highest-ever loading of more than 794 million tonnes, exceeding the initial budgeted target of 785 million tonnes and the revised estimate target of 790 million tonnes.

The highest-ever incremental loading during a financial year of 65.59 million tonnes was achieved, beating the previous record of 64.61 million tonnes achieved in 2005-06.

The cash awards announced by Mr. Prasad include Rs.1 crore each to the zonal railways, Rs. 20 lakh to each of the six production units and Rs. 20 lakh to the Central Organisation for Railway Electrification.

According to Railway Board Chairman K.C. Jena, there has been a 14.4 per cent growth in passenger earnings and 13.5 per cent in freight earnings in 2007-08. Similarly, gross traffic revenue was 14.5 per cent higher than the previous year and 0.2 per cent higher than the Budget estimates.

Mr. Jena said the operating ratio is likely to be 76.3 per cent (best in the world), the end fund balance is likely to increase to Rs. 20,483 crore (27 per cent more than budgeted target) and the cash surplus before dividend is expected to be Rs. 25,000 crore.

The Railways have now set a target of loading 850 million tonnes in 2008-09 and an ambitious target of 1100 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic by the terminal year (2011-12) of the 11th Plan.

The thrust now will be to consolidate the position gained by equipping the system for higher growth, Mr. Jena added.

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