The government raised its disinvestment target for 2019-20 by 12.5 per cent toRs. 90,000 crore even as less than half of the budgeted target of Rs. 80,000 in the outgoing fiscal has been realised in the first 10 months.

So far, the government has raised Rs. 35,532 crore from the sale of its shares in the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) in 2018-19. The government has expressed confidence of meeting the target, saying most sales happen in last quarter.

“The government received over Rs. 1 lakh crore from disinvestment proceeds during 2017-18. We are confident of crossing the target of Rs. 80,000 crore this year,” Finance Minister Piyush Goyal said while presenting the Interim Budget on Friday.

State-owned firms RITES, IRCON International and Garden Reach Shipbuilders hit the IPO market in the current financial year. Besides, the government mopped up Rs. 17,000 crore through the CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) follow-on offer.

The CPSE ETF was launched in March 2014 to help government manage its divestment in CPSEs. The government raised Rs. 8,325 crore in the first further fund offer (FFO) of Bharat 22 ETF, while some state-run firms announced share buybacks during the year.

“We have pursued the public enterprises asset management agenda to make these enterprises accountable to the people. As many as 57 CPSEs are now listed with total market capitalisation of over Rs. 13 lakh crore,” Goyal said.

The government plans to use the divestment fund of Rs. 90,000 crore to finance expenditure on infrastructure project, education, health sectors and investment in the railways towards capital expenditure in 2019-20, as per the Budget documents.

While disinvestment collections were never above Rs. 50,000 crore, it went beyond Rs. 1 lakh crore in previous fiscal 2017-18 against the budgeted target of Rs. 72,500 crore.

In previous fiscal, the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) acquired government’s 51 per cent stake in Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd (HPCL), both state-owned firms, for Rs. 36,915 crore, which was more than half of the disinvestment target for the year.

However, the purchase of government’s stake in a state-owned firm by another state-owned firm has raised doubts about meeting the real objective of disinvestment, which according to industry experts would be met if the sale is in the primary or secondary markets.

Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said the government has allocated Rs.64,587 crore for railways in the Interim Budget for 2019-20. Presenting the Interim Budget in Parliament, Mr Goyal said: “Indian Railways has experienced its safest year in history. We are introducing container cargo movement to the North East”.

“All unmanned level crossings on broad gauge network have been completely eliminated,” he said.

Speaking about the manufacture of engineless Train 18, Mr Goyal said: “Vande Bharat Express will give Indian passengers world class facility, with speed, safety and service. This major leap developed by our engineers will give an impetus to Make in India programme and create jobs.”

He said: “Capital support from Budget for railways is proposed at Rs. 64,587 crore for railways in 2019-20.

“In fact, railways’ overall capital expenditure programme is historic at Rs. 1,58,658 crore.”

Mr Goyal also said that the operating ratio of railways will come down to 95 per cent in 2019-20 from 96.2 per cent in 2018-19.

With all the safety clearances, trials and tests in place, the railways is all set to launch the indigenously-built Train-18 with fares that are likely to be around 40-50 per cent higher than the Shatabdi Express, the officials said.

Officials said they have approached Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) seeking time for the launch by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which is likely after the presentation of the budget. The first train is slated to run between New Delhi and Varanasi, the Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha constituency.

They said that the engineless Train-18, whose traction equipment is mounted below the bogies, got the final clearance of the Electrical Inspector to the Government (EIG) on Thursday and “thus we have approached the PMO seeking time for the inaugural run of the train on the New Delhi-Varanasi route”.

Earlier this month, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had said that the Train-18 will run between New Delhi and Varanasi and it will cover the 755 km distance in eight hours with stoppages at Kanpur and Prayagraj. It will be the fastest train on the route. The current fastest train takes around 11-and-a-half-hours to complete the journey.

Hinting at the fare of the train, the officials said that it will be almost 40-50 per cent higher than the Executive and Chair Class fares of the Shatabdi Express trains.

The Executive Class fare would be between Rs. 2,800 and Rs. 2,900 while that of the Chair Car would be between Rs. 1,600 and 1,700.

The Train-18, built by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai, has undergone extensive trials under the supervision of Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), Lucknow. It has successfully completed trials up to a speed of 180 kmph. The train is capable of touching a maximum speed of 200 kmph.

Train 18, which runs on electric traction like Metro trains, will start replacing the Shatabdi Express fleet from next year, the officials said.

The new train has a number of features to enhance passenger comfort which include inter-connected fully-sealed gangways, automatic doors with retractable footsteps, onboard Wi-Fi and infotainment, GPS-based passenger information system, modular toilets with bio-vacuum systems, rotational seats which can be aligned in the direction of travel (available only in the Executive Class), roller blinds and diffused LED lighting and disabled-friendly toilets.

NEW DELHI: 

In line with the hiring process for recruitment of more than 1.5 employees initiated last year, the Indian Railways will initiate fresh recruitment of 2.3 lakh more employees under various cadres of country’s largest employer, which will be recruited over the next two years in two phases, said the Ministry of Railways in a statement. Out of these 2.3 lakh vacancies, the Ministry has said the first phase of recruitment of 1,31,328 posts will be initiated in the month of February-March, 2019. The hiring arm of the Indian Railways, Railway Recruitment Board or RRB, will be conducting the recruitment process as it is happening with the RRB Group D and RRB ALP vacancies right now.

 

RRB Notification For 1.3 Lakh Vacancies: 10 Points To Know

 

1. According to the Indian Railways, the national transporter has a sanctioned strength of more 15 lakh employees. Out of this, presently, more than 12.2 lakh personnel are working with it and 2,82,976 posts are lying vacant now.

2. With RRB Group D, RRB ALP, RRB JE and other recruitment in Railways, recruitment for 1,51,548 posts is going on right now, leaving 1,31,428 posts still vacant. According to Railways ministry, as part of 2.3 lakh recruitment in coming years, it will be announcing recruitment to 1.3 posts in the month of February-March, 2019.

3. Around 19,715, 9,857 and 35,485 number of Indian Railways’ vacancies will be reserved for SC, ST and OBC candidates respectively based on the reservation policy by Government of India.

4. Again, as per the latest law which was passed by the Parliament, 10% of the expected vacancies i.e. around 13,100 will be filled in from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

5. According to Railways ministry, the recruitment process for these 1.3 lakh vacancies will be completed by April-May, 2020.

6. The RRB notification for these posts will be released as Central Employment Notification for all the RRBs affiliated with the Indian Railways.

7. There are 21 RRBs working across India. They are: RRB Ahmedabad, RRB Ajmer, RRB Allahabad, RRB Bangalore, RRB Bhopal, RRB Bhubaneshwar, RRB Bilaspur, RRB Chandigarh, RRB Chennai, RRB Gorakhpur, RRB Guwahati, RRB Jammu, RRB Kolkata, RRB Malda, RRB Mumbai, RRB Muzaffarpur, RRB Patna, RRB Ranchi, RRB Secunderabad, RRB Siliguri, RRB Thiruvananthapuram.

8. The selection process, as happening with RRB Group D and RRB ALP right now, is expected to have Computer-Based Test or CBT as the first stage.

9. The registration for Indian Railways’ recruitment is online.

“Railways Will Employ Over Four Lakh People By 2021”: Piyush Goyal

10. According to the Ministry, “After the first phase of fresh recruitment of 1,31,328 personnel is completed, the second phase of recruitment of approximately 99,000 personnel against the vacancies arising out of retirements shall be initiated”.

One of the largest employers, Indian Railways, is on recruitment spree for filling up more than 1.2 lakh vacancies in group C and group D posts. However, this is half of the total manpower lying vacant under these services of the national transporter, reveals an RTI reply. “According to the Railways, as on 01.09.2018, 2,66,790 (Provisional) of Group C and erstwhile Group D posts are vacant over zonal railways. And this doesn’t include Group A and Group B services,” reads the RTI report carried by news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS).

“When asked for a breakdown of number of people retiring and the number of job opportunities generated over the last decade, the data was disturbing. The results show that that from 2008 to 2018, not even in a single year, did more people get jobs than the number of employees who retired. As a result the number of vacancies went up to around 3 lakh,” reported IANS.

The report also says, over the years the number of employees in the railways is decreasing. Every year, more employees retired and lesser jobs are generated.

As per the report, total number of railway employees during 2016-2017 was almost 80,000 lesser than it was during 2008-2009.

The report goes on to reveal that, the anomaly has affected the group D services, the most. As on 2016-2017, the report says, there were 80,612 group D employees which is 83% less than the manpower employed during 2008-2009.

In 2017-2018, a total of 19,100 employees have superannuated from their services.

 

Having been elbowed out by the more utilitarian plastic and paper cups over the years at railway stations, “kulhads” which were introduced by former railway minister Lalu Prasad 15 years ago are all set to make a comeback at catering units.

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has instructed caterers at Varanasi and Rae Bareli stations to use terracotta-made “kulhads”, glasses and plates, according to a circular issued by the board to the chief commercial managers of Northern Railway and the North Eastern Railway.

The move will not only give passengers a refreshing experience but also provide a huge market for local potters who are struggling to make ends meet, officials said.

“Zonal railways and the IRCTC are advised to take necessary action to ensure use of locally produced, environmentally savvy terracotta products like ”kulhads’‘, glasses and plates for serving items to passengers through all static units at Varanasi and Rae Bareli railway stations with immediate effect so that local terracotta product manufacturers could easily market their products,” the circular stated.

The proposal had come in December last year from the chairman of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) who had written a letter to Mr Goyal, suggesting that these two stations be used to generate employment for potters around the area.

“We have been giving potters electric wheels which have increased their productivity from making 100 cups to around 600 cups a day. It was important to give them a market to sell their wares and generate income. With the railways agreeing to our proposal, lakhs of potters have now got a readymade market,” KVIC Chairman V K Saxena told PTI.

“It”s a win for all. The entire community is thankful to the railways and hopefully we can do this across its network eventually,” he said, adding that he is expecting the daily production of pottery to reach 2.5 lakh to meet the demands of these two stations.

Under the Kumhar Sashaktikaran Yojana, the government has been distributing electric wheels to potters to increase their productivity.

A train ran over 25 cows near Ragaol railway station in neighbouring Hamirpur district on Friday, officials said.

“The cows were found dead on the track. They were buried in a nearby field,” Superintendent of Police (SP), rural, Hamirpur Hemraj Meena said.

Police personnel have been deployed in the area after some persons alleged the cows were deliberately kept on the track.

Police are investigating the matter.

Passengers returning from the Kumbh Mela in Allahabad on board the Tata Jat Express were robbed Thursday by armed men near Delhi.

This is the second such incident to have taken place on board a train today while nearing the national capital. Earlier, passengers of two AC coaches of the Jammu-Delhi Duronto Express were robbed.

The second incident took place before 2 am between Badli and Holambi Kalan, railways said.

“The train was attended by RPF and GRP at Sonipat station at 01:55 hrs, where passenger of S-8, Ramnath Maurya, reported loot of Rs. 1,000 and small injury in left hand. He has been provided preliminary treatment at Panipat.

“He said that he will lodge (an) FIR at destination station. The train was not escorted by the RPF. The matter is being thoroughly investigated,” railways said.

Passengers alleged that mobile phones, jewellery and cash were looted from them at gunpoint.

In the earlier incident, a passenger wrote descriptive details on the railways’ complaints portal, alleging how they were robbed at knife point but could not find any help.

Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Prakash Javadekar today rejected claims of largescale unemployment in the country, says that unrelated issues cannot be cited to arrive at such a conclusion.

Mr Goyal — who is in charge of the Railways portfolio — recalled a recent instance of his ministry receiving over 15 million applications for a handful of job vacancies. “Such data is often used to highlight the high rate of unemployment. But the sheer volume of people applying for government jobs in the country should not be seen as a sign of rising unemployment. It is the lure of employment security irrespective of performance levels that attracts people to government jobs,” he said at a workshop on jobs and livelihoods organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Tuesday.

Mr Javadekar, the Union Minister for Human Resource Development, went a step further by remarking that people “who choose not to work” cannot be considered unemployed. “There is no system to collect data from the unorganised sector, the self-employed and a large section of the female population who do not work by choice. Are they unemployed? There are various aspects to this that need to be looked into,” he said.

He backed Mr Goyal’s claim, saying that there was a need to understand the “craze” for government jobs. “We have to find out why people with post-graduate degrees apply for sweeper jobs in the government,” Mr Javadekar said.

Although both the ministers maintained that the government has provided enough jobs in the last five years, they admitted to not having the data to prove it. Their claim comes amid allegations by opposition leaders — especially Congress president Rahul Gandhi — that the government has not been able to generate even a fraction of the employment opportunities promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the run-up to the last Lok Sabha elections.

Both Mr Javadekar and Mr Goyal said that current labour data takes only those in the organised sector into account, and there is no mechanism to represent increasing alternative job opportunities and emerging sectors that encourage self-employment.

The Railway Minister also stressed on the need to upgrade existing administrative mechanisms for ensuring complete “honesty” in performance reviews. “In the current system, I write appraisals for people I have worked with through the year and then hand it back to them to check. This goes down the line till the bottom of the pyramid. What can I write in that? I have to work with the same person throughout the year,” he said, clarifying that the assessee cannot be shown the review in ideal circumstances