The railways were hoping to earn some brownie points by knocking out the side middle berths from mail and express trains. But the litany of the passengers continue. Many have complained that by not lowering the side upper berths to its original height, travelling has become cumbersome.
To generate extra revenue, former railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav had introduced the side middle berth on all trains. Not only was travel difficult for the three people on these berths, passengers on the opposite side too were inconvenienced as sitting facility for the person on the side middle berth was slotted there. With complains pouring in from every quarter, the railways
withdrew these berths in July. Some are yet to be dismantled, but reservations are not being issued by them.
Why the side upper berth was not lowered while knocking out the middle is something the Railways have never explained. The yawning gap that's left between the side berths now make it a spacious place for the passenger on the lower berth while the one above him is boxed in.
"The railways seemed to have completely overlooked that they had to lower the upper berth when knocking out the middle one,"
According to railway sources, the adjustment has to be done at the zonal level. Central Railway have well-equipped workshop at Matunga in Mumbai, and the work can be done in there. But, neither wants to act in the absence of any clear instructions.
18/09/2009
Additional Side berth removed, but side upper berth not lowered yet, why?
11/09/2009
Grant of Honorarium to Inquiry Officers and Presenting Officers
The rates of honorarium payable to the I0 /PO in the case of departmental inquiries were last revised in the case of serving Government employees functioning as part time IQ/PO and in the case of retired Govt Servants functioning as IO.
The existing rates of honorarium as prescribed in the aforesaid OMs was reviewed in consultation with the Ministry of Finance. As a result of review, it has been decided to revise the existing rates of the honorarium, payable, to I0/PO. The rates of honorarium as revised are indicated below.
Particulars Revised Rates
a) Inquiry Officer (Part time Serving Govt employees) Rs. 3000/-Maximum and 1500 /- Minimum.
b) Presenting Officer (Part time serving Govt employees) Rs.1500/maximum and 750 /- Minimum.
c) Retired Govt Servants as Rs.9750/ . (lumpsum) Plus Inquiry Officers 1500/- for every additional charge.
The grant of revised rates of honorarium as above will be subject to the same conditions stipulated previously. These orders will take effect from the date of issue and will also apply to inquiries in progress.
10/09/2009
5% DA declared to all Central Govt Employees, Now From 01-07-2009 DA will be 27%
Release of additional instalment of dearness allowance to Central Government employees and dearness relief to Pensioners, due from 1.7.2009
The Cabinet has decided to release an additional instalment of Dearness Allowance (DA) to Central government employees and Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners w.e.f. 1.7.2009 representing an increase of 5% over the existing rate of 22% of the Basic Pay/Pension, to compensate for price rise. The increase is in accordance with the accepted formula, which is based on the recommendations of the 6th Central Pay Commission. The combined impact on the exchequer on account of both dearness allowance and dearness relief would be of the order of Rs.4355.35 crore in a full year and Rs.2903.55 crore in the financial year 2009-2010 (for a period of 8 months from July, 2009 to February, 2010).
1% interest subvention on housing loans upto Rs.10 lakh
1% interest subvention on housing loans upto Rs.10 lakh
The Cabinet today approved the Scheme of 1% interest subvention on housing loans up to Rs.10 lakh and the allocation of a sum of Rs.1000 crore for the Scheme.
Point-wide Details
• Interest subvention of 1 percent will be made available on individual housing loans upto Rs.10 lakh for construction / purchase of a new house or extension of an existing house provided the cost of the construction/price of the new house/extension does not exceed Rs. 20 lakh.
• The Scheme will be implemented through Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) registered with the National Housing Bank (NHB).
• The first twelve instalments of all such loans sanctioned and disbursed during the period of twelve months from the date of publication of the scheme will be eligible for interest subvention.
• Subsidy of one percent will be computed for 12 months on disbursed amount and adjusted upfront in the principal outstanding irrespective of whether the loan is on fixed or floating rate basis.
• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) will be designated the nodal agency for SCBs and National Housing Bank (NHB) will be designated the nodal agency for HFCs.
Background
There has been a notable deceleration in the sectoral flow of credit to the housing sector which is attributable to increase in the price of houses, slackening of income growth and a rise in interest rates for housing loans.
The Finance Minister in his reply to the debate on the Finance Bill in the Lok Sabha on 27th July, 2009 made the announcement that housing, particularly lower and middle income housing, deserved to be supported. In order to stimulate this segment of house owners, he proposed to provide support to borrowers by way of interest subvention of 1% on all housing loans up to Rs.10 lakh to individuals, provided the cost of the house does not exceed Rs.20 lakh.
Implementation Strategy and targets
All Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs) and Housing Finance Companies (HFCs) will submit a monthly consolidated return to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and National Housing Bank (NHB) respectively, specifying interest subvention given.
The nodal agencies will put up a demand to the Government of India for release of subsidy amount and the Government of India in turn will sanction and release the subsidy amount based on demand received.
The number of beneficiaries covered under the scheme will depend, interalia, upon the size of the loan amount and the number of beneficiaries approaching the nodal agency for interest subvention. Being a demand driven scheme no specific targets for coverage of beneficiaries have been fixed.
Major Impact:
It is expected that cut in interest rates should reduce Equated Monthly Instalments (EMIs) of borrowers and create additional demand for housing. This in turn should stimulate demand in construction industry as well as industries such as steel & cement having employment potential and income multiplier effect.
Expenditure involved:
An amount of Rs.1000 crore will be allocated in the Budget for the year 2009-10 for implementation of the Scheme.
No. of beneficiaries:
On a housing loan of Rs.10 lakh, the 1% interest relief available will amount to Rs.10,000/- per account. As such, the Scheme of a size of Rs.1000 crore is expected to cover 10 lakh beneficiaries in one year period.
States/Districts covered:
The scheme will cover all States & Union Territories of the country, including rural & urban areas.
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