NO DIVERSION OF MONEY
FROM RAILWAY SAFETY FUND
LOK SABHA
The Ministry of Railways
has not diverted any money from the Special Railway Fund for other
purposes, including development of newly created railway zones.
The works to
be undertaken from the Special Railway Safety Fund (SRSF) have
been identified by a Selected Committee set up by the Ministry.
There are explicit instructions to the Railways to spend the money
available under SRSF on the identified works of safety only and
no diversion/reappropriation is permissible from the works charged
to SRSF, not even for creation of new zones.
The "Safety
Surcharge" on passengers has been levied with effect from
1st October,last year. The ‘Safety Surcharge’ collected
during the year 2001-2002 (1.10.2001 to 31.3.2002) was Rs.304.86
crore and in the year 2002-03 (1.04.2002 to August 2002), Rs.
249.96 crore have been collected. The Special Railway Safety Fund(SRSF)
was set up and operated with effect from 1st October
2001. The actual expenditure(net) out of SRSF, during the year
2001-2002 was RS.1434.28 crore against an allocation of Rs.1400
crore in the revised estimate for that year. In the year 2002-03(Budget
Estimate) a net amount of Rs.2210 crore has been provided under
SRSF. The total money available under SRSF will be spent on the
identified works only to ensure safety of train operations, which
will be in the interest of both passengers and freight.
The works under
track Renewal, Signalling , Bridge Works, Machinery and Plant
Rolling Stock as well as other safety enhancement works identified
by the Select Committee for funding through SRSF, which are still
in progress, have been listed in the Budget document titled Works,
Machinery and Rolling Stock Programme for 2002-03, Part III or
the "Green Book".
To ensure proper
utilization of the Fund, as extensive mechanism for monitoring
progress of the works under SRSF has been put in place. The works
to be funded through the SRSF have been listed in the ‘Green Book’.
The monitoring scheme as approved by the Government envisages
periodic monitoring at different levels, viz. at divisional level
(monthly); by General Managers of Zonal Railways (every two months);
by the Railway Board (every six months); and at the inter-ministerial
level (once a year).
This information
was given by Shri Bandaru Dattattraya, Minister of State for Railways
in a written reply to a question by S/shri Ramesheth Thakur; A.Venkatesh
Naik, Ashok.N.Mohol, Bikash Chowdhury and Moinul Hassan in the
Lok Sabha today.
