Railways Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu Addresses on Safety measures in Rail Operations.

Railways Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu Addresses a Specially Convened Meeting of General Managers of Zonal Railways on Safety measures in Rail Operations. 


The Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today addressed a specially convened meeting on the Agenda of Safety of General Managers of all the 17 Railway Zones. The Railway Minister Shri Suresh Prabhu said that safety should continue to be the topmost priority in railway operations and he called upon the General Managers to personally ensure that the safety aspects are handled in the most professional manner at all levels. The Minister said that no excuses for lapses are acceptable. 

The Minister of Railways pointed out that he has delegated and decentralized more powers at the level of General Managers and Divisional Railway Managers but with this empowerment should come greater responsibility and accountability. He said that every railway employee from the Board Member to the trackman should be conscious of their duties and there was a need to fix accountability in the system. He further said that there is a need to adopt outcome oriented approach. Shri Suresh Prabhu said that one need to go to the basics and to the fundamentals while adhering to safety protocol in railway operations. 

The Minister further emphasized the need to conduct strong safety audits at all levels on regular intervals and concrete action should be taken on those reports in a time bound manner. He again reiterated that the issue of safety is non-negotiable and any laxity on this front is unacceptable. We need to improve supervision, inspection, monitoring and periodical review of safety measures. The Minister also emphasized on adopting a holistic approach on safety and other activities of Railways. He said that we have to strive for zero accident mission and a roadmap and comprehensive action plan need to be prepared. He said that we should not hesitate in taking harsh actions on lapses and to fix responsibility wherever necessary and desirable as there cannot be any excuse for lapses. The Minister said that we need to pull up our socks to ensure that the railway’s system functions efficiently and safely all the time. 

In his speech Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha said that time has come for hard actions and we need to strictly observe safety systems. He also advised to fill up safety related vacant posts on priority. He said that there should not be complacence in matters of safety. 

Chairman, Railway Board, Shri A. K. Mital outlined the objective of the meeting. The other Railway Board Members also presented their views at the meeting. 17 General Managers of all the Railway Zones attended the daylong meeting. The issues like loading, Punctuality, Earnings and Cleanliness were also discussed in the meeting. Later, Chairman Railway Board addressed a press conference giving details about the outcome of the meeting. 



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“ Decentralization of Power is the Fastest Way to Provide Energy Access 
to the People”- Shri Piyush Goyal 

Shri Piyush Goyal Union Minister of State ( IC) for Coal, Power and New and Renewable Energy has said that the decentralization of the power is fastest way to provide energy access to the people of the country. While inaugurating the National Biogas Convention here today, the Minister said that that there can be no two opinions about the fact that in order to reach energy to the last mile, we have to ensure the decentralized power production across the country. He informed that India is already the world leader in small scale and low cost biogas purification technology. The minister assured that he stand committed to the National Biogas and National Fertilizer Mission and will provide all his support to facilitate the mission. He urged the participants to create a framework for facilitating scientific exploration in the country. The Minister stressed on establishing a panel of scientists and bureaucrats who can plan integrated research efforts of various Universities, Research Institutes & Ministry. 

Shri Goyal said that biogas offers an important solution to the present energy crisis in rural area. Besides being a clean and important source of energy for cooking, it is an environmentally green and clean technology which can create employment opportunities for youngsters and can add to the income of villagers. The Minister also said that in larger perspective, these small entities can strengthen India’s commitment to the global climatic issues like reducing carbon emissions, climate change etc. Through these biogas plants we can demonstrate that India’s efforts to leave behind greener planet is the result of our age old heritage of discouraging wasteful consumption. 

On the occasion, Shri Goyal also released Souvenir on the National Convention. The 3 day National Biogas Convention,2015 is being organised by Biogas Development and Training Centre at IIT Delhi and supported by various Ministries of Government of India . The Convention is being attended by Researchers and other stakeholders. 

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Appointment of Additional Judges in Chhattisgarh High Court 

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint (1) Shri Goutam Bhaduri, (2) Shri Sanjay Kumar Agrawal, and (3) Shri Puthichira Sam Koshy, to be Additional Judges of the Chhattisgarh High Court, for a period of three months with effect from 16th September, 2015. 

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Shri Amitav Kumar Gupta Appointed as an Additional Judge in Jharkhand High Court 

In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 224 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Shri Amitav Kumar Gupta, to be an Additional Judge of the Jharkhand High Court, for a period of three months with effect from 18th September, 2015. 

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Revival of 13 Stranded Gas Based Power Generation Plants With an Installed Capacity Of 8262.08 MW Successfully Bid Through a Transparent and Competitive Reverse E-Auction Process 

The Government is delighted to announce the revival of 13 stranded gas based power generation plants with an installed capacity of 8262.08 MW which have successfully bid through a transparent and competitive reverse e-auction process. These plants would generate 11.03 billion units of electricity which will be supplied at or below Rs 4.70 per unit to the purchaser Discoms during the period from 1st Oct 2015 to 31st Mar 2016. This will involve government support of Rs. 1590.09 crore from the Power System Development Fund. 

The present reverse e-auction for the Stranded Gas based Plants is the second phase of auctions conducted under Scheme for Utilization of Stranded Gas Based Generation Capacity. Compared to the first phase, the second phase has offered increased gas to more number of plants at a higher PLF. 

The grid connected gas based power generation capacity in the country is 24,150 MW. Of this, a capacity of 14,305 MW had no supply of domestic gas. These comprise 29 plants which were eligible to participate in the auction process held today. For 13.5 MMSCMD of imported RLNG available, 16 plants with a cumulative installed capacity of 8,974 MW participated in the bidding. 

The successful bidders include power plants in Southern region. The generation from these plants would improve the power availability in the Southern grid, mitigating to a large extent the shortage of availability and constraint of evacuating the power to the Southern region from other regions. 

Government of India is committed to the revival of such stranded power plants as a measure to ensure 24X7 power to all.