New Delhi: The Lok Sabha on Thursday passed the railway budget for 2009-10 by voice vote after Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee announced some more concessions such as a few new rail lines and setting up of an expert committee. She said the IRCTC will be revamped and ruled out outsourcing food and beverage operations inside trains and stations. Replying to a marathon debate on the budget in the Lok Sabha, Banerjee said an expert committee, headed by Amit Mitra, will prepare a blueprint for business plans of railways. She also announced the introduction of two more non-stop 'Duranto' trains -- Delhi-Secunderabad and Delhi-Nagpur. "Fifty per cent rail concession on Rajdhani and Shatabdis for holders of Indian police medals and artists including painters, musicians and dancers and people from cultural fields," she said. Rejecting the opposition charge that she was corporatising the railways, she said that catering in Rajdhanis and Shatabdhis will not be outsourced and public private partnerships will be for constructing world class stations and building industries and other ancillaries on vacant rail land. She ruled out corporatisation of the country's railroad network but said the private sector's participation can be considered for commercial use of railway land for areas like healthcare and education institutions. On demand for more railway stations, the Minister announced that several more railway stations will be upgraded into world class stations including Goa and Calicut. She said monitoring committee would be set up for overseeing that railway money is properly utilised.
-July 9, 2009