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Railway Budget
Indian Railways to give priority to socially viable projects
Posted On : 2009-07-03 02:42:32( TIMEZONE : IST )
The Railway Minister, Kumari Mamata Banerjee, today sought to make the Railways an instrument of holistic socio-economic development of the country with focus on the backward areas and the poor.
An expert committee will be set up to advise the Railway Ministry on innovative financing and implementation of the so called "economically unviable" but socially desired projects. The Committee will identify those parts that are detached from all infrastructure development. This was announced by the Union Minister of Railways, Kumari Mamata Banerjee while presenting the Railway Budget 2009-10 in the Lok Sabha today.
She said that the Railways will prepare a blue-print of the possible schemes which could be implemented in the next five years. Outlining her idea of development, the Minister said that though these projects might be economically unviable but were an economic necessity for the people of those regions that have remained victims of backwardness and poverty. "They need these projects even more", the Minister asserted and added that these projects may not meet the so called economic viability criterion but create economic assets which would be far more beneficial for future development.
Further elaborating her idea of development, Kumari Mamata Banerjee said that the time has come when our economists and social philosophers would have to consider, that the upliftment of the poor and downtrodden is the primary task of any welfare Government. "The old mindset of economic viability should be substituted by social viability," the Minister emphasised. The Railways must set an example to promote 'inclusiveness' in their functioning keeping the needs of all sections of the countrymen in our thoughts, decisions and deeds, she added.
The Minister said that every ordinary person should receive his share in fruits of development. "Indian Railways is a unique umbrella for creation of infrastructure for development and we aim to expand the network to reach development to every corner of the country", she said. Summing up the Budget speech, Kumari Mamata Banerjee said, "it would be our endeavour to render all commercial services with a human face."
