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The Railway Budget 2009-10 presented in the Lok Sabha on Friday proposes several welfare measures for its 14 lakh (1.4 million) employees.
Railways minister Mamata Banerjee announced the proposal to construct 6,560 staff quarters during the year 2009-10. A thrust would be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters and colonies.
The Budget also proposes to set up indoor stadia in major railway divisions and zones to promote sports and cultural activities among the railway employees.
The minister announced the setting up of scholarship for higher education of girl children of Group D staff for promoting their economic independence.
She also announced the proposal to open seven nursing colleges on railway land at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (Kalyan), Chennai, Secunderabad, Lucknow and Jabalpur on public private partnership mode.
The Budget also envisages to establish medical colleges attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP mode to give higher education facilities to the wards of railway employees.
The locations where such colleges are planned include: Chennai, Hyderabad, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Barasat, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur, Gardenreach, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, B R Singh Hospital, Bhopal, Jammu and Trivandrum.
It was also announced that the general managers would be empowered to sanction cases upto Rs 400,000 for special medical treatment of railway persons.
The Budget also provides for construction of dormitories for ladies and gents who accompany the patients at 16 hospitals having 150 beds and above.
Burn units will be provided at major Railway Hospitals of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad, Bangalore and B R Singh Hospital, Kolkata.
The contribution of Staff Benefit Fund would be enhanced to Rs 350 per railway employee by one year. Out of this contribution, a sum of Rs 100 per employee will be used exclusively for activities relating to women empowerment.
This would also include the provision for vocational and occupational skill development training for physically and mentally challenged wards of railway employees, especially the girl child and higher education for girls. - PIB