Railway Accounts Department Examinations

Sunday, February 2, 2020

Indian Railways - Budget 2020-21 Highlights


Indian Railways - Budget 2020-21 Highlights





·         Financials

Segment
Target (Rs. in Crores)
Percentage
Coaching Earnings
61000
27
Goods Earnings
147000
65
Sundry Earnings
17613
8
Gross Earnings
225613
100

·         Capex - Capital Expenditure - Rs. 1,61,000 Crores

·         Budgetary support - Rs. 70,000 Crores (44% of Total outlay)

·         Freight target - 1265 Million Tonnes

·         Operating Ratio - 96.2 % (2019-20 Revised - 97.5%)

·         Salary payout - Rs. 93,000 Crores (Approx) - 43 % of Total Working Expenses

·         Eliminated unmanned Level Crossings

·         Setting up of large solar power capacity alongside the Rail tracks

·         Redevelopment of 4 Railway Stations .  They are 1. Chandigarh 2. Surat (Gujarat) 3. Anand Vihar (New Delhi) 4. Bijwasan (New Delhi)

·         Already in progress - Habibganj (Bhopal)- WCR - 93 % completed and Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat) - WR - 91 % completed

·         150 Passenger trains  - Private players.

·         HSR  - High Speed Rail Project between Mumbai to Ahmedabad - to be complete by 2023

·         Bengaluru Suburban Transport Project -148 Kms - Rs. 18,600 Crores  (20 % equity by Central Govt. and Up to 60 % by External assistance)  - Fares on Metro model  (So don't expect subsidized fares like in other suburbans i.e., Mumbai, Hyderabad etc. )

·         More Tejas type trains

·         Kisan Rail through PPP - for carrying of perishable products like milk, meat,fish etc through Refrigerated coaches attached to Passenger and Goods Trains.


·          Electrification as on 01.04.2019  - Indian Railways Network - in Route Kilo Meters (RKMs)

Total
Broad Gauge
Electrified
69182 RKMs
64298 RKMs (93 % of Total Track)
35488 RKMs ( 55 % of BG Track )

·         Achieve electrification of 27000 kms of track


India - Budget 2020-21

                              (Rs. in Crores)
Segment
Receipts
Expenditure
Revenue
2020926
2630145
Capital
1021304
  412085
Total
3042230
3042230



Thursday, January 30, 2020

NINFRIS - New, Innovative Non Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme


NINFRIS  - New, Innovative Non Fare Revenue Ideas Scheme


·         New scheme - to increase Non Fare Revenue

·         Announced by Ministry of Railways in 2018.  Click here for Railway Board letter on NINFRIS

·         Object:  Promote new ideas and concepts for enhancement of NFR (Non Fare Revenue) and improve passenger convenience on IR

·         To classify an idea/concept as innovative - a similar proposal should not have been implemented on the concerned Division before.  

·         Replication - Divisions are encouraged to report success of such ideas and give wide publicity for possible replication across Indian Railways.  

Salient features:

ü  At Divisional level
ü  DRM – Divisional Railway manager -Full powers.
ü  Nodal Officer – Branch officer of Commercial Dept (Sr.DCM / DCM)
ü  Committee of Branch Officers of Commercial Dept, Finance Dept and Dept holding the assets to be used scrutinizes the proposals received and recommended to DRM for approval.
ü  Terms & conditions of the Agreement are accepted by the such committee with the approval of DRM
ü   Savings in expenditure if any, is added notionally as “deemed earnings” for the purpose of evaluation of project.
ü  Token non Refundable application fees Rs. 1000 – should be accompanied to each proposal.  Object of levying such fees is to avoid non serious ideas/concepts.
ü  Based on the importance  of the proposal, DRMs are authorize to decide the EMD – Earnest Money Deposit of not less than Rupees 10,000 /-
ü  Projects may be executed directly by the Divisions using their own manpower or through any Railway PSU or outside agencies such as NGO – Non Governmental Organisation, SHG – Self Help Group, Cooperative society etc.
ü  Period – One year or part there of.   Can be extended beyond one year with the approval of DRM. If Extended, Licence fees for extended period may be decided depending on the realization of the earnings of the Project.

Safeguards/Precautions

·         Should not be political or religious in nature.

·         No permanent structure should be constructed

·         Not violating the norms of aesthetics, environmental concerns, decongestion, safety and security, free movement of passengers, sanitation standards, temporary structures, fire, safety etc as prescribed under Railway rules.

Success Stories - NINFRIS

1. Paid Gaming fun zone opens at Visakhapatnam Railway Station for passenger convenience. Rs. 3.6 Lakhs per Annum. 
     
      2. Health check kiosk was established at Kacheguda on payment basis. 

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Sunday, January 26, 2020

ERW - Environment Related Works


ERW - Environment Related Works

·          Authority: Board's letter No.2016/EnHM/13/02 dated 13.05.2016  
·         EnHM - Environment and Housekeeping Management Directorate is new one in Indian Railways.
·          Railway is the most energy efficient transport as compared to road and air modes. Accordingly, strengthening and augmentation of rail network enables modal shift of passenger and freight traffic to Railways which helps in reducing GHG (Green House Gases) emissions. Apart from this, Indian Railways on their own also need to take additional measures to protect and contain the impact on environment due to their activities.
·      Provision for all environment related works should be thoroughly assessed and made in itemized form in the Estimates for Works.

·         Where itemized provision is not contemplated/could not be assessed at the stage of preparing estimate, a lurnpsum provision equivalent to one percent of the cost of work to facilitate execution of required environment impact mitigation works as found necessary later, may be kept to address the environmental concerns.

·         However, itemised provision and Lumpsum provision shall not co-exist in the estimate.

·         1 % Provision for ERW - Not applicable for Plan Heads 17 - Computerization and 31- Track Renewal Works and works chargeable to EBR (IF)

·         Implementation of such works are monitored by EnHM wing  on Zonal Railway / Division(Environment and Housekeeping Management)

·         Such approved works within Zonal Railway shall figure in separate Annexure under the heading "Environment Related Works under lumpsump provision of identified estimate" and the works will continue to figure in List Of Approved works (LAW) till 'its completion and closing of accountal.
·         Such works should generally be completed within two years
List of ERW - Environment Related Works

1.       Water conservation works i.e., Rain water harvesting, Water recycling plant etc
2.      Sewage treatment plant
3.       Effluent treatment plant
4.       Solid waste management solutions e.g. waste to compost, waste to energy plants etc
5.       Solar energy plants including PV modules for off-grid applications e.g. for hospitals,  stations, office buildings colonies, LC gates, signaling equipments etc
6.       Energy efficient lighting fixtures
7.       Use of Green Building features in built up space to be constructed/renovated etc.
8.       Afforestation including development of green areas
9.       Water efficient fixtures
10.   Protection and/or improvement of water bodies in railway land which helps in recharging the aquifer.
11.   Measures for mitigation of Air & Water pollution during construction & operation
12.   Construction and Demolition waste recycling Plant
13.   Measures for natural air-conditioning of the' building including geo-thermal cooling.
14.   Environment related studies including water audit and/or energy audit and works relating to implementation of recommendations of such audits.
15.    Environment related monitoring devices and tools
16.   Any other item required as per local Regulations and Court order for upkeep of environment
17.   Construction & up gradation of Toilets at Railway Stations and in Coaches.
()()()()()()

Wednesday, January 22, 2020

Social Cost Benefit Analysis



Download the article

Social Cost Benefit Analysis
LDCE 2015 - Southern Railway

·         A social cost benefit analysis is a systematic and cohesive method to survey all the impacts caused by an development project or other policy measure.

·         Also known as Economic analysis.

·         A decision-making strategy  - assessing the impact of Investments/Projects on the Society as a whole.

·         It evaluates not just the financial benefits/costs (profits /losses), but all economical benefits/costs (pollution, health, safety, travel times etc)

·         Social Benefit  - if it is positive impact

·         Social Cost       - if it is negative impact

·         Main objective:  To attach a price to as many effects as possible in order to uniformly weigh all the mixed (i.e., positive and negative) effects.

·         Example: PRS (Passenger Reservation System) project in Indian Railways.

Ø  PRS started as a pilot project in 1985 on two trains between Delhi and Chennai with a few reservation centres in Delhi. In 2003–04, it was operational at 1,200 centres, had 4,000 terminals, covered 3,000 trains and handled one million reservations per day.

Ø  Financial benefits: cost savings, staff reduction and increase in revenue.

Ø  Economic benefits: Improved customer service, higher quality of information, improved work environment, streamlined operations, and higher employee self-esteem and morale

Ø  “from anywhere to anywhere reservations”,

Ø  With IRCTC online ticketing, the booking of train tickets is much more easier.

Ø  An approximate estimate that about Rs. 250 crore was spent on the PRS up to the CONCERT stage.  At proposal stage, it was observed as negative Rate of Return from the point of financial returns.   

Ø  A very significant intangible benefit is national pride.

Ø  The Indian Railways management and staff are justifiably proud that they have successfully implemented a world-class, state of-the-art system in a developing country.

Ø  The success of the railway PRS provided the launch pad for India’s software industry exports.

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Thursday, January 16, 2020

Zone works


Zone Works

·         Source: 1203E, 1208E, 1209E

·         Meaning:  Works of ordinary repairs & maintenance, petty nature works of a particular zone ( Like SCR) or Area ((say Secunderabad)

·         Piece work contract is adopted for Zone works.  Only unit rates fixed, without reference either to total quantity of work/material supplied.

·         Advantageous to allot all minor works & all works of repairs & maintenance in a particular zone for a definite period to one Contractor.

Works under Zone Contracts - (Revenue only)

1.       Additions/alterations to the existing structures, special repair works, supply of building materials - But each work / Work order not exceeding Rs.5 Lakhs.
2.       All ordinary repairs & maintenance works
3.       Supply of materials. e.g., bricks, lime, sand etc which are likely to be required in a Zone during the year.

·          Period – one year- Normally 1st July to 30th June.

·         Period may be extended more than a year with the concurrence of Accounts, if it is advantageous to Railways.

·         Ensure all works of old contract are completed by 30th June.
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Monday, January 13, 2020

RTIS – Real-time Train Information System


RTIS – Real-time Train Information System

·         Project executed by CRIS – Centre for Railway Information System, an IT arm of Indian Railways in collaboration with ISRO – Indian Space Research Organisation.

·          This requirement gained greater significance after implementation of ICT based Control Office Application (COA) on all divisions of Indian Railways. As COA is already integrated with National Train Enquiry System (NTES), accurate real-time information for passengers will get enabled automatically as a by-product.

·         Object:  Automatic acquisition of train movement data i.e., arrival, departure, run through timings at Railway stations

·         As part of the project, RTIS devices have been installed in Locomotives.

·         Indian Railways has  15000 Locos  ( 5500 electric locomotives, 6500 diesel locomotives and 3000 EMU/ MEMU /DMUs). As of now (till November, 2019), 2700 devices are installed in Phase 1.

Advantages:
1.       Automatic capture of train running Information & automatic plotting of Control Charts in COA.
2.       Stress free work conditions for train controllers.
3.       Accurate train running information to passengers.
4.       Improving the efficiency of train control.
5.       Richer MIS for management.
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