Heads of Important Offices in India

Mr. Narendra Modi : Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mrs. Sumitra Mahajan : Speaker, Lok Sabha.
Mohammad Hamid Ansari : Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. P. J. Kurien : Deputy Chairman, Rajya Sabha.
Mr. Arun Jaitley : Leader of House (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad : Leader of Opposition (Rajya Sabha).
Mr. Arvind Panagariya : Vice-Chairman, National Institution for Transforming India (Niti Aayog)
Mr. Harishankar Brahma : Chief Election Commissioner.
Syed Nasim Zaidi : Election Commissioner.
Mr. Shashi Kant Sharma : Comptroller and Auditor-General of India.
Mr. Justice K. G. Balakrishnan : Chairperson, National Human Right Commission (NHRC)
Mr. Ajit Kumar Seth : Cabinet Secretary.
Mr. Nripendra Misra : Principal Secretary to Prime Minister.
Justice V. Eshwaraiah : Chairman, National Commission for Backward Classes.
Ms. Shanta Sinha : Chairperson, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)
Dr. P. L. Punia : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes
Dr.Rameshwar Oraon : Chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).
Mr. Deepak Gupta : Chairman, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).
Dr. M. S. Swaminathan : Chairman, National Commission on Farmers (NCF).
Mr. Ajit Kumar Doval : National Security Adviser and Special Adviser to PM (Internal Security).
Mr. Sharad Kumar : Director-General, National Investigation Agency (NIA)
Mr. A. K. Mital : Chairman, Railway Board.
Mr. Shumsher K. Sheriff : Secretary-General, Rajya Sabha
Mr. T. K. Viswanathan : Secretary-General, Lok Sabha.
Mr. Dineshwar Sharma : Director, Intelligence Bureau (IB).
Mr. Anil Kumar Sinha : Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
Mr. Rajinder Khanna : Director, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).
Mr. Jayanto Narayan Choudhury : Director-General, National Security Guard (NSG).
Mr. Prakash Mishra : Director-General, CRPF.
Mr. Devendra Kumar Pathak : Director-General, Border Security Force (BSF).
Mr. Arvind Ranjan : Director-General, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Mr. P. K. Mehta : Director-General, Railway Protection Force. (RPF)
Mr. Parkash Mishra : Director-General, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
Mr. B. D. Sharma : Director-General, Sashastra Seema Bal.
Vice-Admiral Anurag G. Thapliyal : Director-General, Indian Coast Guard.
Lt. Gen. Avtar Singh : Director-General, Defence Intelligence Agency.
Prof. Ved Prakash : Chairman, UGC.
Dr. Avinash Chander : Scientific Adviser to Defence Minister and Secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation. (DRDO)
Dr. R. Chidambaram : Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government.
Mr. A. S. Kiran Kumar : Chairman, Space Commission and ISRO.
Mr. Ratan Kumar Sinha : Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Dept. of Atomic Energy.
Mr. Naseem Ahmad : Chairperson, National Commission for Minorities.
Mr. Amitava Bhattacharya : Chairman, Staff Selection Commission (SSC).
Dr. Vishwa Mohan Katoch : Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research.
Mr. C. Chandramouli : Registrar-General of India and Census Commissioner.
Justice D. K. Jain : Chairman, Law Commission.
Dr. B. N. Suresh : President, Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE).
Mr. Justice (Retd.) B. N. Kirpal : Chairman, National Forest Commission.
Mr. T. Nanda Kumar : Chairperson, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).
Lt. General AT Parnaik : Director-General, Border Roads Organisation.
Dr. Raghuram Rajan : Governor, RBI.
Justice Mr. Chandramauli Kumar Prasad : Chairman, Press Council of India.
Mr. Ravindra Pisharody : Chairman, Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC).
Mr. R. K. Tewari : Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).
Mrs. J.M. Shanti Sundharam : Chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs.
Mr. Ashok Chawla : Competition Commission of India
Justice Syed Rafat Alam : Chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal
Mr. R.S.T. Sai : CMD, National Hydroelectric Power Corporation (NHPC).
Mr. R. S. Sharma : CMD, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
Mr. B. C. Tripathi : CMD, GAIL.
Mr. S. Behuria : Chairman, IOC.
Mr. Sunil Kumar Srivastava : CMD, Oil India Ltd.
Dr. Satbir Bedi : Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).
Mr. U. K. Sinha : Chairman, Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala : Chairman, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD).
Smt. Arundhati Bhattacharya : Chairman, SBI.
Mr. M. S. Raghavan : Chairman, IDBI.
Justice Dilip Raosaheb Deshmukh : Chairman, Company Law Board.
Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri : India's Permanent Representative to UN.
Mr. S. K. Roy : Chairman, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC)
Mr. Ashwin Pandya : Chairman, Central Water Commission.
Ms. Lalitha Kumarmangalam : Chairperson, National Commission for Women.
Dr. Y. V. Reddy: Chairman, 14th Finance Commission.
Dr. Pronob Sen : Chairman, National Statistical Commission.
Mr. Pahlaj Nihalani : Chairperson, Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
Dr. Rakesh Tewari : Director-General, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
Dr. Jyotsna Suri : President, Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI)
Dr. Rahul Khullar : Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 
Dr. Rajan Katoch : Director, Enforcement Directorate.
Mr. R. V. Verma : Chairman, Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA).
Dr. Sekhar Basu : Director, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.
Mr. N. Ramachandran : President, Indian Olympic Association.
Prof. B.K.Tripathi : Acting Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT).
Mr. Ajay S. Shriram : President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). 
Dr. A. Surya Prakash : Chairman, Prasar Bharti Board.
Mr. Ratan Tata : Chairman, Investment Commission.
Mr. Jagmohan Dalmiya : Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
Mr. R. Chandrasekaran : Chairman, NASSCOM.
Mr. Ramesh Sippy : Chairman, National Film Development Corporation (NFDC).
Mr. Ravindra Kumar: Chairman, United News of India.
Mr. Mahendra Mohan Gupta : Chairman, PTI.
Mr. Kiran B. Vadodaria : President, Indian Newspaper Society (INS).
Mr. Rana Kapoor : President, The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). 

Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights

Union Budget 2015-16 Highlights:
- Arun Jaitley leaves North Block with finance ministry officials for Lok sabha.
- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley begins General Budget 2015-16 speech in Loksabha.

 TAXATION
1. Abolition of Wealth Tax.
2. Additional 2% surcharge for the super rich with income of over Rs. 1 crore.
3. Rate of corporate tax to be reduced to 25% over next four years.
4. No change in tax slabs.
5. Total exemption of up to Rs. 4,44,200 can be achieved.
6. 100% exemption for contribution to Swachch Bharat, apart from CSR.
7. Service tax increased to14 percent.

AGRICULTURE
1. Rs. 25,000 crore for Rural Infrastructure Development Bank.
2. Rs. 5,300 crore to support Micro Irrigation Programme.
3. Farmers credit - target of 8.5 lakh crore.

INFRASTRUCTURE
1. Rs. 70,000 crores to Infrastructure sector.
2. Tax-free bonds for projects in rail road and irrigation
3. PPP model for infrastructure development to be revitalised and govt. to bear majority of the risk.
4. Atal Innovation Mission to be established to draw on expertise of entrepreneurs, and researchers to foster scientific innovations; allocation of Rs. 150 crore.
5. Govt. proposes to set up 5 ultra mega power projects, each of 4000MW.

EDUCATION
1. AIIMS in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar and Assam.
2. IIT in Karnataka; Indian School of Mines in Dhanbad to be upgraded to IIT.
3. PG institute of Horticulture in Amritsar.
4. Kerala to have University of Disability Studies
5. Centre of film production, animation and gaming to come up in Arunachal Pradesh.
6. IIM for Jammu and Kashmir and Andhra Pradesh.

DEFENCE
1. Allocation of Rs. 2,46,726 crore; an increase of 9.87 per cent over last year.
2. Focus on Make in India for quick manufacturing of Defence equipment.

WELFARE SCHEMES
1. GST and JAM trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile) to improve quality of life and to pass benefits to common man.
2. Six crore toilets across the country under the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
3. MUDRA bank will refinance micro finance orgs. to encourage first generation SC/ST entrepreneurs.
4. Housing for all by 2020.
5. Upgradation 80,000 secondary schools.
6. DBT will be further be expanded from 1 crore to 10.3 crore.
7. For the Atal Pension Yojana, govt. will contribute 50% of the premium limited to Rs. 1,000 a year.
8. New scheme for physical aids and assisted living devices for people aged over 80 .
9. Govt. to use Rs. 9,000 crore unclaimed funds in PPF/EPF for Senior Citizens Fund.
10. Rs. 5,000 crore additional allocation for MGNREGA.
11. Govt. to create universal social security system for all Indians.

RENEWABLE ENERGY
1. Rs. 75 crore for electric cars production.
2. Renewable energy target for 2022: 100K MW in solar; 60K MW in wind; 10K MW in biomass and 5K MW in small hydro

TOURISM
1. Develpoment schemes for churches and convents in old Goa; Hampi, Elephanta caves, Forests of Rajasthan, Leh palace, Varanasi , Jallianwala Bagh, Qutb Shahi tombs at Hyderabad to be under the new toursim scheme.
2. Visa on Arrival for 150 countries.

GOLD
1. Sovereign Gold Bond, as an alternative to purchasing metal gold.
2. New scheme for depositors of gold to earn interest and jewellers to obtain loans on their metal accounts.
3. To develop an Indian gold voin, which will carry the Ashok Chakra on its face, to reduce the demand for foreign coins and recycle the gold available in the country.

FINANCIAL SECTOR
1. Forward Markets Commission to be merged with the Securities and Exchange Board of India
2. NBFCs registered with the RBI and having asset size of Rs 500 crore and above to be considered as ‘financial institution’ under Sarfaesi Act, 2002, enabling them to fund SME and mid-corporate businesses
3. Permanent Establishment norms to be modified to that mere presence of offshore fund managers in the country does not lead to “adverse tax consequences.”

Economic Survey of India 2014-15: Highlights

Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitely on 27 February 2015 presented Economic Survey of India 2014-15 in the Parliament. 

The Economic Survey reviews the developments in the Indian economy over the previous 12 months, summarises the performance on major development programmes and highlights the policy initiatives of the government and the prospects of the economy in the short to medium term.

Three pronged strategy suggested in Economic Survey 2014-15

• To improve the investment climate and reduce the backlog of stalled projects, Economic Survey 2014-15 suggested a three-pronged strategy, namely
• Revival of public investment in short term, to act as an engine of growth in infrastructure sector. It argues that public investment cannot be a substitute for private investment; but is required as a complement and to crowd it in.
• Need of creative solutions to strengthen institutions relating to bankruptcy. This will ensure that exit options are available. This will also ameliorate over-indebtedness that lowers the capacity to generate new investments. Towards this end, it contemplates setting up of a high-powered Independent Renegotiation Committee.
• Economic Survey highlights the need for reorientation and restructuring of the PPP model. This is expected to make them more viable in future.

Main Highlights of the Economic Survey 2014-15

General Highlights

• Using the new estimate for 2014-15 as the base, GDP growth at constant market prices is expected to accelerate to between 8.1 and 8.5 percent in 2015-16.
• Inflation declined by over 6 percentage points since late 2013 which is likely to remain in the 5-5.5 percent range in 2015-16, creating space for easing of monetary conditions.
• The current account deficit declined from a peak of 6.7 percent of GDP in Quarter 3 of 2012-13 to an estimated 1.0 percent in the fiscal year 2015-16.
• After a nearly 12-quarter phase of deceleration, real GDP has been growing at 7.2 percent on average since 2013-14, based on the new growth estimates of the Central Statistics Office.
• Foodgrains production for 2014-15 is estimated at 257.07 million tonnes, which will exceed average food grain production of last five years by 8.5 million tones
• Foreign portfolio flows have stabilized the rupee, exerting downward pressure on long-term interest rates which is reflected in yields on 10-year government securities and surge in equity prices.
• From a cross-country perspective, a Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI) which combines indicators of macro-stability with growth illustrates that India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations.
• It ranks well above the mean for its investment grade category (BBB), and also above the mean for the investment category above it (on the basis of the new growth estimates).
• In the short run, growth will receive a boost from the cumulative impact of reforms, lower oil prices, likely monetary policy easing facilitated by lower inflation and improved inflationary expectations, and forecasts of a normal monsoon in 2015-16.
• Growth in medium-term prospects will be conditioned the “balance sheet syndrome with Indian characteristics” that has the potential to hold back rapid increases in private sector investment.
• In the long-run, private investments will be the engine of growth. However, there is a case for reviving targeted public investment as an engine of growth in the short run to complement and crowd-in private investment.
• Expenditure control and expenditure switching from consumption to investment will be the key to growth in the short-run
• It calls for complementing Make in India initiative with Skill India initiative to enable a larger section of the population to benefit from the structural transformation that such sectors will facilitate.
• The Survey emphasizes on creation of a National Market for Agricultural Commodities in place of thousands of agricultural markets
• The Model APMC Act, 2003 should be amended along the lines of the Karnataka Model that has successfully introduced an integrated single licensing system.

Fiscal Framework

• The Survey calls for adhering to the medium-term fiscal deficit target of 3 percent of GDP. This will provide the fiscal space to insure against future shocks and also to move closer to the fiscal performance of its emerging market peers.
• It also calls for moving toward the golden rule of eliminating revenue deficits and ensuring that, over the cycle, borrowing is only for capital formation.
• Expenditure control combined with recovering growth and the introduction of the GST will ensure that medium term targets are comfortably met.
• In the short run, the need for accelerated fiscal consolidation will be conditioned by the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC).
• The quality of expenditure needs to be shifted from consumption, by reducing subsidies, towards investment.

Subsidies and the JAM Number Trinity Solution

• Food Subsidy Bill stands at 107823.75 crore rupees during 2014-15 (up to January 2015) which means an increase of 20 percent over previous year
• The direct fiscal cost of select subsidies is roughly 378,000 crore rupees or 4.2 percent of GDP in 2011-12.  
• 41 percent of subsidy given for the PDS kerosene is lost as leakage and only 46 percent of the remaining 59 percent is consumed by households that are poor.
• The JAM Number Trinity – Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar, Mobile – can enable the State to transfer financial resources to the poor in a progressive manner without leakages and with minimal distorting effects.

Indian Railways and Public Investment

• The Indian Railways over the years has been plagued by host of issues. Some of them include underinvestment resulting in lack of capacity addition and network congestion; neglect of commercial objectives; poor service provision; and consequent financial weakness.  These have cumulated to below-potential contribution to economic growth.
• As a result, the competitiveness of Indian industry has been undermined. Calculations reveal that China carries thrice as much coal freight per hour compared to India. Coal is transported in India at more than twice the cost vis-à-vis China, and it takes 1.3 times longer to do so.
• The railways public investment multiplier (the effect of a 1 rupee increase in public investment in the railways on overall output) is around 5.
• In the long run, the railways must be commercially viable and public support must be linked to railway reforms. These include adoption of commercial practices, tariff rationalization, and technology overhaul.

Railway Budget 2015-16: Major Initiatives

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 presented the Railway Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. The Budget plans to invest around 8 lakh crore rupees over the next 5 year to rejuvenate the Indian Railways.

In this regard, Railway Budget 2015 – 16 unveiled certain initiatives ranging from cleanliness drive to development of infrastructure to improving the overall quality of life in train journeys.

The major initiatives undertaken in the Railway Budget 2015-16

Station Redevelopment

• Zonal and Divisional offices to be empowered for quicker decision making
• Development of 10 Satellite Railway terminals in major cities with twin purpose of decongesting the city and providing service to suburban passengers

Network expansion

• Fast-track sanctioned works on 7000 kms of double/third/fourth lines
• Commission of 1200 km of network in 2015-16 at an investment of 8686 crore rupees

Expansion of freight handling capacity

• Transport Logistics Corporation of India (TRANSLOC), to be set up for developing common user facilities to provide end-to-end logistics solution at select Railway terminals through Public Private Partnerships.
• Policy for Private Freight Terminals (PFT) to be revised.
• Automatic Freight Rebate Scheme for traffic to be expanded
• Long haul freight operations to be used extensively and construction of long loop lines to be expedited.

Improving train speed

• Speed of 9 railway corridors to be increased from existing 110 and 130 kmph to 160 and 200 kmph respectively.
• Average speed of freight trains in empty and loaded conditions will be enhanced to 100 kmph for empty freight trains and 75 kmph for loaded trains.

Bullet train

• Feasibility study for High Speed Rail between Mumbai-Ahmadabad is in advanced stage.

Upgrading manufacturing capability

• Creation of job opportunities by upgrading the manufacturing capability and review of functioning of Indian Railways Production Units.
• Workshops for technological upgradation and enhancing productivity be undertaken to make them self-sustaining.

Safety

• RDSO to develop a suitable device with reliable power supply system based on theft-proof panels/batteries in consultation with Indian Space Research Organization using geo-spatial technology.
• Train Protection Warning System and Train Collision Avoidance System to be installed on selected routes at the earliest.  
• Better welding techniques being promoted and digital type machines to replace analogue type machines.

Technology upgradation

• Constitution of an innovation council called Kayakalp for business re-engineering.  
• Technology portal being constituted to invite innovative technological solutions.
• Research Centers to be set up in selected universities for fundamental research.

Partnerships for development

• PPP cell to be revamped to make it result oriented. Foreign Rail Technology Cooperation scheme to be launched.
• Joint ventures to be set up with States for focused project development, resource mobilization, land acquisition and monitoring of critical rail projects.  

Improvements to Management Processes and Systems

• Systems audit to be conducted for review of all processes and procedures.
• Constitution of a working group to modify present system of accounting, to ensure tracking of• expenditure to desired outcomes and Train operations to be audited.
• Paperless working in material management system to be expanded and Vendors to be integrated through Vendor Interface Management System.

Resource Mobilisation

• Support from the Central Government for 41.6 percent of the Plan and Internal generation of 17.8  percent for setting up of a Financing Cell in the Railway Board.
• Setting up an infrastructure fund, a holding company and a Joint Venture with an existing NBFC of a PSU with IRFC for raising long term debt from domestic as well as overseas sources.
• Digitized mapping of land records and responsibility fixing for encroachments.
• New strategy to tap latent advertising potential including offering stations and trains for corporate branding.  
• Railways in partnership with ports will deliver rail connectivity to Nargol, Chharra, Dighi, Rewas and Tuna. Scrap disposal policy to be reviewed for speedier scrap disposal.

Human Resources

• Human Resource Audit to be undertaken; Separate accounting head for HRD; ERP based Human Resource Management System.  
• Setting up a full-fledged University during 2015-16 and  Improved delivery of health services to employees

Energy and sustainability

• Environment Directorate to be constituted in Railway Board to give increased focus on environment management.
• Initiative likely to save at least 3000 crore rupees in next few years will be taken up.  1000 MW solar plants will be set up by the developers on Railway/private land.
• Water conservation mission will include water audit and expansion of water harvesting systems. 100 DEMUs to be enabled for dual fuel- CNG and diesel.
• Noise levels of locos to be at par with international norms and concerns related to wildlife will be addressed.  

Transparency and Governance initiatives

• System of on-line applications introduced for two categories of recruitment as a pilot project.  
• All possible solutions be explored to address menace of corruption. E-procurement value chain to be expanded.

Social initiatives

• Infrastructure like stations and training centers to be made available for skill development.
• Promotion of products made by Self Help Groups, consisting mainly of women and youth on the model of Konkan Railway.

Tourism

• Incredible Rail for Incredible India to be launched and Promotion of training of auto-rickshaw and taxi-operators as tourist-guides on the model of Konkan Railway.  
• Coaches in selected trains connecting major tourist destinations to travel agencies may be offered on a revenue sharing model.  
• IRCTC to work on promoting the Gandhi circuit to attract tourists to mark the occasion of 100 years of the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa.
• IRCTC will work on Kisan Yatra, a special travel scheme for farmers for farming & marketing technique centres.
• 
  

Railway Budget 2015-16: Quality of Life in Journeys:

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on 26 February 2015 presented his maiden Rail Budget 2015-16 in the Lok Sabha. This was also the second rail budget of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government.

In the budget, Prabhu gave 11 thrust areas to improve quality of life in train journeys which also includes Swachh Rail - Swachh Bharat drive. The 11 thrust areas include

Cleanliness
•Swachh Rail - Swachh Bharat campaign
•New department for cleanliness
•Integrated cleaning by engaging professional agencies and training our staff
•Waste to energy conversion plants
•New toilets covering 650 additional stations compared to 120 stations in 2014
•Bio-toilets to be fitted in the coaches

Bed linen
•National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), Delhi to design bed linen
•The facility of online booking of disposable bedrolls at select stations will be extended to all passengers through the IRCTC portal on payment basis

Help-line
•Start a 24X7 helpline number 138 and a toll-free number 182 for security related complaints

Ticketing
•Operation Five Minutes to ensure Speedy Purchase of Tickets for Unreserved Class Passengers.  
•Provision of modified hot-buttons, coin vending machines and single destination teller windows will be launched to reduce the transaction time. 
•For the differently-abled travellers, a special initiative will be launched whereby they can purchase concessional e-tickets after one-time registration. 
•Proposal to work towards developing a multi-lingual e-ticketing portal
•Some other facilities include introduction of integrated ticketing system on the lines of rail-cum-road tickets on Jammu – Srinagar route will be expanded.

Catering
•Integrate Best Food Chains for E-Catering
•Railway passengers to order their food through IRCTC website at the time of booking tickets

Leveraging technology
•Introduce hand-held terminals to Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) for verification of passengers and downloading charts. 
•Extending facility of SMS on mobiles as a valid proof of travel for PRS tickets
•SMS Alert service to inform passengers in advance of the updated arrival/departure time of trains at starting or destination stations

Surveillance
•Surveillance cameras will be provided on a pilot basis in selected mainline coaches and ladies’ compartments of suburban coaches without intruding into privacy

Entertainment
•Project for introducing on-board entertainment on select Shatabdi trains on license fee basis 
•Mobile phone charging facilities will be provided in general class coaches & its numbers will be increased in sleeper class coaches

Station facilities
•200 more stations to come under Adarsh Station scheme
•Wi-Fi will be provided at B category station
•Facility of self-operated lockers to be made available at stations 
•Provision of concierge services will be introduced through IRCTC at major stations
•Online booking of wheel chair on payment basis for senior citizens, patients and the differently-abled passengers will be available through IRCTC on select stations

Train capacity
•Capacity in identified trains will be augmented to run with 26 coaches
•More General class coaches will be added in identified trains

Comfortable travel
•NID to design user friendly ladders for climbing to the upper berths
•Quota of lower berths for senior citizens will be increased
•Middle bay of coaches will be reserved for women and senior citizens
•NID will develop ergonomically designed seats
•Provision of 120 crore rupees for Lifts and escalator has been made
•The newly manufactured coaches will be Braille enabled
•Entrances will be widened to ease of differently-abled passengers
•Corporate houses & MPs requested to invest in improving passenger amenities at Railway stations through CSR & MPLAD funds