The Hindu : National : Lalu’s bonanza for railwaymen

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Thursday, May 22, 2008
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National

Lalu’s bonanza for railwaymen

Sandeep Joshi

NEW DELHI: Acknowledging the contribution of railwaymen in achieving record revenue earning in freight loading by the Railways during the last fiscal, 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 budgeted target of 785 million tonnes and the revised estimate target of 790 million tonnes. The highest-ever incremental loading of 65.59 million tonnes during a financial year was achieved, beating the previous record of 64.61 million tonnes achieved in 2005-06.

The 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.

The Railways have now set a target of loading 850 million tonnes in 2008-09 and an ambitious target of 1,100 million tonnes of revenue earning freight traffic by the terminal year (2011-12) of the 11th Plan.

Special Correspondent reports from Patna:

Patna may well emerge the chosen city for monorail, given Railway Minister Lalu Prasad’s resolve after a visit to Kuala Lumpur. Impressed with what he saw there, he believes that the same facility is the answer to congestion in Patna.

Soon after his return, he ordered for a survey of the city to prepare a blueprint. Mr. Prasad said he would implement the scheme as his dream project once the survey report, followed by a feasibility report, was completed. He directed IRCON to get in touch with the Malaysian manufacturer Scomi.

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