01-18-2007, 01:43 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Govt panel slams Railways for delay in forming land development authority </b>
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
At a time when the Rail Bhawan is harping on the much-hyped 'turnaround', the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has slammed the Ministry headed for its reluctance to go ahead with the constitution of the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).
<b>The RLDA, which Yadav dubbed as a revolutionary move in his 2005 Budget speech, aims at ensuring the optimum utilisation of rail land across the country.
"Even after the notification of the Railways (Amendment) Act in 2005, the RLDA is yet to be constituted by the Railways. Such an apathetic attitude reflects the lack of seriousness of the Ministry in constituting the authority," the Standing Committee has observed in its report on 'Rail Land Management'. </b>
"The delay in setting up the authority is unfortunate. The reasons are beyond my comprehension. Since the Railways Act was amended in 2005 to facilitate the creation of RLDA, the Ministry should have expedited efforts to set up the authority on time," Basudeb Acharia, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, said.
The delay in setting up the RLDA has cost the Ministry over Rs 300 crore. According to an official, the effective commercial use of the vacant land will add up to Rs 150 crores annually to the coffer for initial years. Indian Railways earned Rs 116.53 crores from the use of vacant land in 2003-2004 against Rs 91.49 crores in 2002-2003, and Rs 223.53 crores in 2001-2002.
The Ministry had even identified over 52 sites to be commercially developed by the RLDA. It was also to "develop the railway stations in metros like New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai as the world-class mega terminals."
The idea to have RLDA was mooted to commercially develop around 44,894 hectares of the vacant railway land and generate funds to improve amenities for the passengers. Yadav in his Budget speech had announced that the RLDA would be set up soon "as it was the need of the hour to generate additional resources for the Railways."
As per an estimate, the Railways own over 4.23 lakh hectares of land. The tracks and stations account for an estimated 3.19 lakh hectares of land. Some other railway establishments occupy around 56,000 hectares. Around 2,200 hectares of land are under encroachments.
Apart from developing the rail land for commercial use to generate extra resources by non-tariff measures, the authority is also supposed to 'provide consultancy, construction or management services and undertake operation in the country in relation to the development of land and property.'Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If anything positive it is all because of La-loo and when negative, blame Railways.
Rajeev Ranjan Roy | New Delhi
At a time when the Rail Bhawan is harping on the much-hyped 'turnaround', the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways has slammed the Ministry headed for its reluctance to go ahead with the constitution of the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA).
<b>The RLDA, which Yadav dubbed as a revolutionary move in his 2005 Budget speech, aims at ensuring the optimum utilisation of rail land across the country.
"Even after the notification of the Railways (Amendment) Act in 2005, the RLDA is yet to be constituted by the Railways. Such an apathetic attitude reflects the lack of seriousness of the Ministry in constituting the authority," the Standing Committee has observed in its report on 'Rail Land Management'. </b>
"The delay in setting up the authority is unfortunate. The reasons are beyond my comprehension. Since the Railways Act was amended in 2005 to facilitate the creation of RLDA, the Ministry should have expedited efforts to set up the authority on time," Basudeb Acharia, chairman, Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways, said.
The delay in setting up the RLDA has cost the Ministry over Rs 300 crore. According to an official, the effective commercial use of the vacant land will add up to Rs 150 crores annually to the coffer for initial years. Indian Railways earned Rs 116.53 crores from the use of vacant land in 2003-2004 against Rs 91.49 crores in 2002-2003, and Rs 223.53 crores in 2001-2002.
The Ministry had even identified over 52 sites to be commercially developed by the RLDA. It was also to "develop the railway stations in metros like New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai and Chennai as the world-class mega terminals."
The idea to have RLDA was mooted to commercially develop around 44,894 hectares of the vacant railway land and generate funds to improve amenities for the passengers. Yadav in his Budget speech had announced that the RLDA would be set up soon "as it was the need of the hour to generate additional resources for the Railways."
As per an estimate, the Railways own over 4.23 lakh hectares of land. The tracks and stations account for an estimated 3.19 lakh hectares of land. Some other railway establishments occupy around 56,000 hectares. Around 2,200 hectares of land are under encroachments.
Apart from developing the rail land for commercial use to generate extra resources by non-tariff measures, the authority is also supposed to 'provide consultancy, construction or management services and undertake operation in the country in relation to the development of land and property.'Â
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
If anything positive it is all because of La-loo and when negative, blame Railways.