Railway minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday stated that this year’s budget was being presented with a view towards fulfilling the social responsibility towards the people of the country. She announced several schemes, most of which are still on the drawing board, that the Railways proposes to implement in the future.
Ms Banerjee proposed to create a fund to implement the socially desirable projects during the 12th Five-Year Plan. She announced the formulation of Pradhan Mantri Rail Vikas Yojana which proposes to have a non-lapsable fund for fulfilling the socially desirable projects and new lines.
As part of the new schemes with social outlook the minister also proposed to construct 10,000 dwelling units under the Sukhi Griha Scheme for the socially weaker sections in Mumbai, Sealdah, Siliguri and Tiruchirapalli on a pilot basis. “This will help the railways in contributing towards the welfare of the poverty stricken,” she said.
She also announced the proposal to set up a 700-MW gas-based power plant at Thakurali in Maharashtra. The power plant has been proposed to meet the growing electricity demands of the Railways. The Railways is already in the process of establishing a 1,000-MW thermal power plant at Nabinagar and another one with 1,320-MW capacity at Adra.
She announced the creation of a non-lapsable fund for railways projects in the Northeast region of the country. The fund is expected to boost the progress of projects in the region. All the state capitals of the region, except Sikkim, will get connected to the rail network by the next seven years, she said.
She proposed to establish a diesel locomotive centre in Manipur. She also proposed to set up an institute for tunnel and bridge engineering in Jammu and a bridge factory in Jammu and Kashmir.