Rail Budget 2016 Archives - CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES NEWS

House Rent Paid : 80GG has also been raised to 60,000 from 24,000

admin — Tue, 01 Mar 2016 11:02:28 +0000

House Rent Paid : 80GG has also been raised to 60,000 from 24,000

The limit of deduction of house rent paid under section 80GG has also been raised to Rs. 60,000 from the existing Rs. 24,000 per annum to give relief to employees who live in rented houses.

Certain Tax Reliefs announced for small tax payers and others

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the taxation is a major tool available to Government for removing poverty and inequality and this has to be cautiously exercised. But, he would like to give relief to small tax payers, the Finance Minister added.

Thus the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A of IT Act has been proposed to be raised to Rs. 5,000 from Rs. 2,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs. He said that above 2 crore tax payers would get a relief of Rs. 3,000. The limit of deduction of house rent paid under section 80GG has also been raised to Rs. 60,000 from the existing Rs. 24,000 per annum to give relief to employees who live in rented houses.

Under the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD of the Income tax Act, the limit of turnover or gross receipts has been raised to two crore rupees from the exiting one crore rupees to benefit about 33 lakh small business people. It frees a large number of such assesses in the MSME category from the burden of maintaining detailed books of account and getting audit done.

The presumptive taxation scheme is to be now extended to professionals with gross receipts up to Rs. 50 lakh with the presumption of profit being 50% of the gross receipts.

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Budget 2016: After its 7th Pay Commission Rs 40,000 crore ‘request’ denied, Indian Railways wants FinMin to bear PSO bill

admin — Sat, 20 Feb 2016 06:05:15 +0000

Budget 2016: After 7th Pay Commission Rs 40,000 crore request of Indian Railways was denied, Rail Ministry Rail Ministry wants cost of its Public Service Obligations in 2016-17 to be shared by the finance ministry – Indian Railways has demanded that Budget 2016 bear the PSO cost. The PSO, sources said, includes a part of passenger subsidies but not all of it, as the Indian Railways is still to figure out what PSO is.
Even as experts call for an overhaul of the operations of the Indian Railways and its corporatisation, the transporter’s losses from the passenger segment and public service obligations are rising relentlessly and it is now looking for some relief from Budget 2016 (Union Budget 2016 presentation date is February 29).
Indian Railways gives as many as 53 types of concessions in passenger fares. Because of the various subsidises and concessions the transporter provides, Indian Railways had to bear an overall loss of Rs 32,000 core in FY14 for running passenger operations. All of passenger categories except AC three-tier are making losses for the Indian Railways.
Sources in the ministry of railways told FE that Indian Railways social obligation cost would be around Rs 34,000 crore this financial year, steeply higher than about Rs 25,000 crore in FY14. The figure is believed to have stood at over Rs 30,000 crore last financial year, although no official estimate is still out.
The Indian Railways carries out numerous transport activities which are uneconomical in nature but are considered to be in the larger interest of the society. The items which fall under PSOs and are making losses, include transport of essential commodities carried below cost, subsidies and concessions on passenger fares and other coaching services, operation of uneconomic branch lines and new lines opened for traffic during the last 15 years.
“There is no clarity on whether the Indian Railways is a commercial entity or a tool to meet social service obligations. As the transporter needs to invest a lot of money for the expansion and up keep of its infrastructure, there needs to be a proper framework to compensate the Indian Railways on the losses it makes on running passenger operations and the cost it incurs for meeting its public service obligations,” said Abhay Krishna Agarwal, Partner Infrastructure & PPP at EY LLP.
Sources said even the Standing Committee on Indian Railways has recommended the government to work out a procedure on the basis of which the public service obligation costs are reimbursed to the railways. Documents accessed by FE reveal that the finance ministry wants an independent body to evaluate and define what qualifies under ‘public service obligation’ for railways and also decide on the extent of relief which can be claimed from the government under it.
“Utilising your track for providing compensations and subsidises and running below cost operations is not a prudent way of running operations, who is stopping you from increasing passenger fares, political compulsions should not be factored into while deciding fares,” Raghvan Sivadasan, former railway board member said.
While the finance ministry wants an independent body to evaluate and decide on the quantum of burden to be shared, the ministry of railways has proposed an Inter-Ministerial Committee to be set-up for evaluating the impact and the framework of sharing the public service obligation cost borne by the railways. As an interim measure the transporter wants the general revenue to bear a certain percentage losses incurred by the Indian Railways in FY16.

Sources: Financialexpress.com

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NFIRs Proposals: Rail Budget 2016-17

admin — Wed, 06 Jan 2016 02:49:28 +0000

NFIR’s proposals for Rail Budget 2016-17

NFIR
National Federation of Indian Railwaymen
3, CHELMSFORD ROAD, NEW DELHI – 110055

Affiliated to:
Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC)
International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF)

No. IV/NFIR/RAIL-BUDGET/PT.II

Dated: 05/01/2016

Shri Suresh Prabhu,
Hon’ble Minister for Railways,
Rail Mantralaya,
Rail Bhavan,
New Delhi.

Respected Sir,

Sub: NFIR’s proposals for Rail Budget 2016-17-reg.

NFIR wishes to bring to your kind notice that the Railway Ministers have made budget pronouncements for Staff Welfare, but, however the following pronouncements have not been implemented till date. Extract of pronouncements are placed below:-

Railway Budget 2009-10

STAFF WELFARE

Item No. 32

“A thrust will be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters & colonies. During 2009-10, 6550 Staff Quarters are proposed to be constructed.

It is proposed to Open seven Nursing Colleges on Railway land at Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (Kalyan), Chennai, Secunderabad, Lucknow and Jabalpur on Public Private Partnership model so as to facilitate the wards of the Railway employees in finding a good vocational avenue”.

Railway Budget 2010-11

STAFF WELFARE & HEALTH
Item No. 49 of the Budget Speech:- A new Scheme of ‘House for All’, was launched to provide residences to all Railway employees in the next ten years with the help of Ministry of Urban Development.

Item No. 54 of Budget speech:- It is proposed to set up 50 Creches for children of 80,000 women employees and 20 hostels. Railways will also provide more numbers of community centres and stadiums.

Railway Budget 2011-12

* Extending medical facilities to both dependent father & mother.
* 20 additional hostels for children of Railway employees to be set up.

Railway Budget 2012-13

Railways is a 24×7 service available to the rail-users. To run services at this scale, the employees have to put in long hours of duty without any respite round the year and the compulsion of job creates high stress levels. I therefore intend to introduce a wellness programme for them at their places for early detection. of risk factors, prevention and early treatment of diseases caused due to high blood pressure and sugar levels, obesity and other lifestyle related ailments.

We need to recognize the dedication, hard work and sacrifice of the staff at all levels. To minimize incidence of human error especially amongst the skilled and technical staff including loco pilots, cabin men and gangmen, it is important to ensure proper rest period for them. I am also conscious of the importance of periodic training and creation of a general environment to provide them enhanced dignity. I have also requested NID to design appropriate outfits for various categories of workforce.

Railway Budget 2013-14

Construction of staff quarters has been hampered by funding constraints. Encouraged by the success of Ministry of Urban Development in constructing quarters through PPP mode, I propose to=adopt the same in the Railways. Yet, I have enhanced the fund allocation under staff quarter by 50% over previous year to provide Rs. 3000 crore.

Provision of hostel facilities for single women railway employees at all Divisional Headquarters.

Considering the stress faced by loco-pilots particularly in harsh climatic conditions, it is proposed to provide water closets and air condition the locomotive cabs.

Conduct National Skill Development Programme of the Ministry of Railways to impart skills to the youths in Railway related trades at 25 locations spread across the length and breadth of the country.

Setting up of a multi-disciplinary training institute at Nagpur for imparting training in rail related electronics technologies.

NFIR requests the Hon’ble Railway Minister to see that the Government takes steps for fulfillment of its Budget pronouncements.

II. NFIR also requests the Hon’ble MR to consider making Budget announcements on the following:-

(a) Provision of funds for construction/improvement of Railway Institutes, Community Halls and Holiday Homes.

(b) Provision of adequate funds for construction of new Railway Quarters on replacement account to the extant of 100%.

(c) Sanctioning of Cardiology Department at Northern Railway Central Hospital, New Delhi.

(d) Road Mobile Medical Vans facility for covering all remote and inaccessible areas in Railways.

III. NFIR alsoybrings to the notice of Hon’ble Railway Minister that the condition of Railway Quarters on Indian Railways is awfully bad and many of them deserve demolition. New Quarters are not being built adequately due to inadequate allotment of funds. Federation cites the case of Mumbai area of Western Railway wherein about 1200 Railway quarters (Type-I to Type-IV) have been dismantled by the Railway administration. However, Western Railway authorities have constructed only 447 Railway quarters which is only 37%, of total number demolished. Adequate funds need to be provided for construction of new Quarters atleast equivalent to the number demolished. Also there are over 600 Railway Quarters (Type-I & Type-II) in Mumbai area which do not have separate toilets. The Railway employees and their families living in those quarters in Mumbai are compelled to share common toilets (one toilet shared by 3, to 4 families), thus the lives of employees are miserable.

NFIR requests the Hon’ble MR to consider the points placed above favourably and give decisions.

sd/-
(Dr. M. Raghavaiah)
General Secretary

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