INLAND WATER
TRANSPORT DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL TO MEET ON OCTOBER 18
The second meeting
of Inland Water Transport Development Council will be held on
18th October, 2002 at FICCI Auditorium, New Delhi under
the chairmanship of Union Minister for Shipping Shri V.P. Goyal.
The Minister of State for Shipping Shri Thirunavukarasar, the
Ministers’ incharge of inland water transport of 15 states, namely,
Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Jharkhand,
Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil
Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal, the Secretary, Ministry of
Shipping, and the Chairman, Inland Waterways Authority of India
will participate. The Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping is
Member Secretary of Council.
The council was set
up on May 14, 2001, to monitor the status and progress of development
of waterways and improvement in the share of IWT in cargo and
passenger movement, review the policy frame work, examine requirement
of funds and recommend facilitative steps, besides measures for
development of IWT as a component in multi model transport.
The Inland Water
Transport Sector being cost effective, fuel-efficient and environment
friendly, it is necessary to maintain effective co-ordination
between the Centre and the State Government for development of
this model.
The first meeting
of the council was held at New Delhi on 25.8.2001. The meeting
resolved to give high priority for infrastructure development
by providing adequate budgetary resources. Other important deliberations
include endorsing Government of India strategy to involve private
sector participation, setting up of IWT Directorate by respective
States, ear-marking percentage of the state budget for IWT development
etc.
