New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Railways E Ahmed informed the Rajya Sabha that the Indian Railways owns approximately 10.65 lakh acre of land.
In a written reply Ahmed said, about 90 per cent of this land is under Railway’s operational and allied usages. The total vacant land, at present is about 1.13-lakh acre.
He also informed the Parliament that in order to mobilize additional financial resources, Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) has been set up to undertake commercial development of vacant railway land and air-space which is not required by Railways for its immediate future operational needs.
“So far, 133 sites of such vacant land measuring 3744 acre have been entrusted to RLDA on various Zonal Railways for commercial development. RLDA has taken up studies for ascertaining revenue potential of these sites,” he said.
Ahmed also said the Railways has also planned o utilize its 1.13 lakh acre vacant land, wherever feasible, for setting up of various infrastructural projects, which include Rail Coach and Component factories, Multi-Modal Logistic Parks, Auto hubs, Cold Storage and Perishable Cargo Centres, and others through innovative financing models in order to earn more revenue for the railways, create additional railway infrastructure, and also generate employment opportunities.
Railways accepts Khanna committee report
The Railway Ministry on Friday said that it has accepted 239 recommendations out of 278 made by the Justice H R Khanna Committee.
In 1998, the Railway Ministry constituted Justice Khanna Committee to review the implementation of the recommendations of all previous accident inquiry committees, to examine the adequacy of existing organization and practices for safe running of trains and to suggest safety measures.
In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Railways E Ahmed said: “The Committee in its report made 278 recommendations on various aspects of working of the Railways, out of which 239 were fully or partially accepted by the Ministry.”
“Out of 239 accepted recommendations, 208 have already been implemented and the balance 31 recommendations are under various stages of implementation,” he added.
He also informed the House that, 39 recommendations of the Committee related to retirement age, allowances, educational qualifications for recruitment, amendment to Trade Union Act, reduction of staff strength, stopping appointments on compassionate grounds to safety category posts, were not found feasible for acceptance.
In addition to measures taken to improve the efficiency of staff by way of emphasis to training including induction, promotional and in-service refresher courses, steps have been taken for adoption of suitable modern technologies for up-gradation and maintenance of track, rolling stock, signalling and interlocking systems, to further enhance the efficiency, Ahmed said. (ANI)
