Welfare of Railway Staff to be given high priority

The Railway Minister said that welfare of railway staff will be given high priority. 6560 staff quarters will be constructed in 2009-10 and indoor stadia will be developed in major railway divisions and zones. Increased contribution of Rs.350 per employees to Staff Benefit Fund will continue for a year, with Rs.100 per employee for women empowerment.

Scholarships will be introduced for the higher education of girl children of Group 'D' staff. She proposed attached medical colleges with railway hospitals at 18 locations and one burn unit at major hospitals.

The Minister said the policy on Railway Recruitment Boards will be reviewed. Special recruitment drives for filling vacancies of SC and ST and physically handicapped will also be undertaken.

Emphasizing on review of projects with social perspective, Kumari Mamata Banerjee said, innovative financing will be adopted. The Railways will come out with White Paper on organizational, operational and financial status based on the last five years' performance and develop Vision-2020 with short and long term strategy and plan of action. She said that a project monitoring committee will be set up for developing mechanism to avoid slippage in project delivery. Special monitoring will be taken up for all National Rail Projects. She also proposed an expert committee headed by Shri Sam Pitroda to suggest innovations to utilize optic fibre cable network of Railways and take information technology to remote areas.

Source : Equity Bulls

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