Some Highlights of the Rail Budget 2016. The union minister for the railways Sh. Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu presented his second rail budget i.e. the rail budget 2016 in the Lok Sabha. The rail budget session was started at 12 pm on feb 25th and concluded around 1:10 pm. The main concern showed by Suresh Prabhu is about the women safety, cleanliness of trains/railway stations, E-catering system etc and he also admitted to take a close watch on the same from now.
“This Budget owes its inspiration to the vision and leadership of our Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji. He had once said, “My vision is to make railways the backbone of India’s progress and economic development.” We are making all out efforts to translate his vision into reality”, said Suresh Prabhu.
Some Highlights of the Rail Budget 2016.
This budget is presented keeping in view the customer experience at the individual level. 100 stations will get the wifi service by the end of this year and 400 more stations over the next two years. For the year 2016-17, the operating ratio is expected to be 92%. And the revenue from railways is expected to grow over 10% by 2016. Suresh Prabhu gave the whole credit to the Railway Family for this Budget.
Highlights of the Rail Budget 2016 from passengers perspective also be made, like railway fares not to be hiked, the local cuisine will be made available to the passengers soon according to their choice, also on every station baby food, hot milk & water will be made available. Moreover, the rail minister announced that the facility for the tickets cancellation can be done through 139 helpline.
The electrification of 2000km to be done by the next year, due to the lack of pure and fresh drinking water 2500 water vending machines to be installed on stations. The common people have always been the focus of all our initiatives, he said.
Porters to be called as ‘sahayaks’ from now, and also they will be trained in some soft skills. Setting up of Rail Development Authority which will take care of the fair pricing of services, promote competition, protect the interest of customers and determine efficiency standards. Prabhu also announced to create locomotive factories worth Rs 40000 crore. Alot of announcements were made in this budget but these are all the main highlights of the rail budget 2016. Please checkout the full documentation here..
Adding more, Suresh Prabhu exclaimed these lines, ‘’ We, in the Railways, must provide to the citizens of this country a rail system that they can be proud of – a system free from capacity constraints, a system that is efficient and predictable, a system that is sparkling and pristine, where the people of my country feel at ease, where there is plenty of choice in every sphere of activity, and the ease of doing business pervades the entire railway ecosystem. In short, a system that is capable of taking care of its own needs financially and otherwise’’
His vision is to meet the long-felt desires of the common man by the year 2020.
