Rail ministry says 39 budget proposals implemented in 36 days

Ministry claims this was made possible by use of E-Samiksha, a software which tracks projects and schemes

The Ministry of Railway today said it has implemented 39 announcements made in the railway budget 2015-16 in the past 36 days since the beginning of the current financial year on 1 April. This was made possible by use of E-Samiksha, a software which tracks and monitors initiatives including projects and schemes.

"Ministry of Railway is next only to Prime Minister's Office (PMO), Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and Ministry of Human Resource Development to have this kind of online monitoring mechanism," rail ministry said.

A majority of the achievements listed by the ministry in a release were related to passenger amenities while others dealt with public-private partnership (PPP) projects for infrastructure creation and connectivity. The list included signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) to create SPVs for setting up coal evacuation infrastructure in Odisha and Jharkhand; initiation of the process for setting up a regulator and negotiations for financing rail projects through World Bank.

Other achievements included signing of an MoU with LIC for providing funding of Rs 1.5 lakh crore, approval of rail connectivity to Dighi port through PPP, committee for revamping of PPP cell, taskforce for drafting an Information Technology (IT) vision for Indian railways, formation of Kayakalp Council headed by Ratan Tata on innovation, and examination of pending recommendations by Kakodkar committee on safety.

The ministry also listed as achievements inauguration of a perishable cargo centre, instructions to Ticket Examiners to help senior citizens get lower berths, identification of trains for increasing number of coaches from 24 to 26, instructions issued for providing mobile charging facilities in general coaches, on-board entertainment started at Kalka Shatabdi, introduction of e-catering service and online booking of retiring rooms.