opensansad/lok-sabha-qa huggingface dataset:
Lok Sabha Question No. 3449 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Station Redevelopment Plan
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: JOSE K. MANI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3449 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## STATION REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

3449. SHRI JOSE K. MANI:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  has  short-listed  2  stations  to  be  brought under the Station Redevelopment Plan of the Indian Railways and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the redevelopment projects are to be taken up under the Swiss  Challenge  Method  and  the  successful  bidders  will  have  the right  for  commercial  exploitation  of  the  land  at  the  station  for  a period of 45 years and if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) whether Kottayam Railway Station is also under redevelopment programme and if so, the details thereof?

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## ANSWER (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (c): Indian Railways has advertised its plan to offer 'A-1' and 'A' category  stations  on  'as  is  where  is'  basis  for  redevelopment  by inviting  proposals  from  interested  parties  with  their  designs  and business ideas.  23 railway stations have been  selected for taking up  for bidding in the first phase.  The  entire cost of station redevelopment is to be met by leveraging commercial development of railway land/air space in and around the station with lease period of 45 years.

Kottayam railway station, being an 'A' category station, is in the list of 'A-1' & 'A' category stations which are proposed to be offered for redevelopment.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 3445 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Status of Refund after Demonetization
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: GAJANAN CHANDRAKANT KIRTIKAR, BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO, ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN, T. RADHAKRISHNAN, KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH, SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD, SUDHEER GUPTA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3445 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## STATUS OF REFUND AFTER DEMONETIZATION

3445.   SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKAR:

SHRI BIDYUT BARAN MAHATO:

SHRI ASHOK SHANKARRAO CHAVAN:

SHRI T. RADHAKRISHNAN:

KUNWAR HARIBANSH SINGH:

DR. SUNIL BALIRAM GAIKWAD:

SHRI SUDHEER GUPTA:

## Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Railways  has  failed  to  refund  the  amount  of cancelled  rail  tickets  after  demonetisation  through  banks  even after lapse of almost four months;
- (b) if so, whether the Railways shall pay interest on money held by it for more than 15 days;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d)  the  time  schedule  worked  out  to  clear  all  pending  refunds  to
- customers?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) to (d):  Subsequent to demonetisation, a surge in the number of booking of reserved tickets across booking counters was noticed. Due to this, the procedure for cancellation of tickets and refund of fare for high value tickets was revised and all Zonal Railways were advised  that  the  cancellation  of  such  high  value  tickets  and (..2/-)

payment of refund against such cancellation of tickets shall not be allowed in cash across the counter and the payments shall only be made  through  cheque/ECS  (Electronic  Clearing  Service)  through Bank.  Such tickets shall have to be surrendered in original and the TDR  (Ticket  Deposit  Receipt)  shall  be  filed  within  the  prescribed time limit for cancellation of such tickets.

In  the  normal  circumstances, a maximum of 90 days has been prescribed for settlement of the coaching refund claims. There is no provision for payment of interest on the refund amount payable. However, since the processing of large number of such claims for refund of tickets booked during the period after demonetization is an extraordinary situation, no time frame can be given for finalisation of these claims.  Zonal Railways have been advised to finalise the coaching refund claims expeditiously.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 3443 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Wagon Factory in Sitalapalli Village
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: KULAMANI SAMAL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3443 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## WAGON FACTORY IN SITALAPALLI VILLAGE

## 3443. DR. KULAMANI SAMAL:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware about the rail project sanctioned in 2011-12 to establish a wagon factory in Sitalapalli Village in Ganjam, Odisha;
- (b) if so, the details thereof; and
- (c) the current status and plan on part of the Government to commission this project?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

- (a) to (c) Setting up of wagon factory at Sitalapalli in Ganjam, Odisha has been  sanctioned  in  Railway  Budget  2012-13.  However,  the  existing wagon  manufacturing  capacity  including  both  private  and  public sector units is adequate to meet the current demand for new wagons based  on  traffic  projections.  As  a  result,  setting  up  of  this  wagon factory has not been commenced.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 3441 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Cyber Gram Project
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT, BHARATENDRA SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 3441 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

Cyber Gram Project

## 3441    SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

DR. HEENA VIJAYKUMAR GAVIT:

KUNWAR BHARATENDRA:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has launched minority cyber gram project aimed at training the villagers to become Internet Savvy and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether the project has been shelved by the Government and if so, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the Government will take necessary steps to revive the minority cyber gram project and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the other steps taken by the Government to establish more such minority cyber gram projects in other parts of the country?

## ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE(INDEPENDENT CHARGE) IN THE MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

- (a) to (d): A pilot project for `Minority Cyber Gram`` was launched in February, 2014 for digital literacy in a minority dominated village Chandauli, District Alwar, Rajasthan. The Ministry has mainstreamed the  Cyber  Gram  project  with  the  Multi-sectoral  Development  Programme  as  a  special  initiative. Under this initiative students of minority communities are provided  hands on training in computers to enable  them  to  acquire  basic  Information  and  Communication  Technology  (ICT)  skills;  become digitally  literate;  actively  participate  in  knowledge  based  activities;  access  financial,  social  and government services and use internet for communications. The initiative covers students of Class VI to Class X belonging to notified minority communities(Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Buddhists, Parsis and  Jains )residing  in  minority  concentration  areas  indentified  under  Multi-sectoral  Development Programme.(MsDP).  MsDP being a Centrally Sponsored Scheme, the projects are approved on the basis of requirement and proposal received from State/UTs.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 3440 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Impact of Climate Change
Ministry: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: JAYAKUMAR JAYAVARDHAN, VIJAYSINH MOHITE PATIL, SUPRIYA SADANAND SULE, RAJEEV SHANKARRAO SATAV, DHANANJAY BHIMRAO MAHADIK

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3440

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 22/3/2017

## IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE

## 3440.  DR. J. JAYAVARDHAN:

SHRI MOHITE PATIL VIJAYSINH SHANKARRAO:

SHRIMATI SUPRIYA SULE:

SHRI SATAV RAJEEV:

SHRI DHANANJAY MAHADIK:

Will the Minister of SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó Ùðüëðó be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Britain's earth observation community is linking with Indian experts to assess the impact of climate change and the associated green house gas emission on agriculture in the IndoGangetic Plains;
- (b) if so, the details thereof along with the main focus area of the project;
- (c) the advantage India is likely to get out of this study;
- (d) whether the project is funded by the UK-India education and research initiative and the Ministry and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the time by which the study will be started and completed?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF EARTH SCIENCES (SHRI.Y. S. CHOWDARY)

òãðìððÐð ¡ðøÜ ÑßðøÌðð÷ò±ð¨îó ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó +ÉÉè® ÑðöÆãðó òãðìððÐð ÙðüëððâðÚð Ùð÷ü Üð¸Úð Ùðüëðó

(gÉÉÒ ´ÉÉ<Ç. AºÉ. SÉÉèvÉ®ÉÒ)

- (a) & (b):  Yes Madam. The Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, and the  British  Department  of  Business  Innovation  and  Skills  have  agreed  to  facilitate  a  network linking  researchers  from  University  of  Leicester  and  IIT,  Kanpur,  through  a  joint  project combining expertise from Earth observation, in-situ observations and land surface modeling. The primary aim of this project is to better understanding of the sensitivity of agricultural productivity in the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) to climatic disturbances in environmental conditions.
- (c) In view of reports that Indian sub-continent will see a significant rise in mean temperature and an increased possibility of climate extremes, the project implementation will result in better our  understanding  of  regional  vulnerabilities,  such  as  IGPand  in  development  of  appropriate adaptation strategies for dealing with future climate variability and change.
- (d)  &  (e):    Department  of  Science  &  Technology,  Government  of  India,  and  the  British Department of  Business  Innovation  &  Skills  have  agreed  to  extend  financial  support  for  this project commencing 2017 for a 3 year period.
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Lok Sabha Question No. 3438 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: BSNL Headquarters
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: ARPITA GHOSH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3438 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND   MARCH, 2017

## BSNL HEADQUARTERS

## 3438. SHRIMATI ARPITA GHOSH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  any  plan  to  set  up  a  BSNL  headquarters  in  each constituency of the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT-wise;
- (c) if not, the reasons therefor; and
- (d) the  time  by  which  the  said  headquarters  is  likely  to  be  established  in  Balurghat constituency?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) to (d) At present, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) does not have any plan to set  up  headquarters  in  each  constituency  of  the  country  as  BSNL  has  deployed  its manpower as per its functional and operational requirement.

## **************************
Lok Sabha Question No. 3437 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: DDA Parks
Ministry: URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: UDAY PRATAP SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3437

## TO BE ANSWERED ON MARCH 22, 2017 DDA PARKS

No. 3437 SHRI UDAY PRATAP SINGH:

Will  the  Minister  OF  URBAN  DEVELOPMENT  be  pleased  to state:

- (a) the details of parks developed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) in National Capital Territory of Delhi; location-wise;
- (b) the details of land acquired for each park, location-wise;
- (c) whether any irregularities have been noticed in the maintenance  of  parks  during  the  last  two  years  and  the current year; and
- (d) if so, the action taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT (RAO INDERJIT SINGH)

- (a):   Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has informed that 1,650
- parks  spread  over  an  area  of  11,242.25  acres  have  been developed  by  them  at  various  locations  in  National  Capital Territory of Delhi. The details are available on website: http://dda.org.in/crmdp/ParkLists.aspx
- (b):  DDA  has  informed  that  land  is  acquired  for  development under various schemes and parks are developed as per Master Plan norms.
- (c)  &  (d):  No,  Madam.  DDA  has  informed  that  these  parks  are being maintained by them properly.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 3436 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Water Purification Technology
Ministry: ATOMIC ENERGY
Asked by: MUTHAMSETTI SRINIVASA RAO (AVNTHI)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF ATOMIC ENERGY LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3436

TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## WATER PURIFICATION TECHNOLOGY

3436.   SHRI MUTHAMSETTI SRINIVASA RAO (AVANTHI):

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Department  of  Atomic  Energy  has  developed  water  purification technology;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the said technology would be deployed in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalle to allay the reported apprehensions of villagers of the said  areas  and provide pure drinking water and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d)       if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE  MINISTER  OF  STATE  FOR  PERSONNEL,  PUBLIC  GRIEVANCES  &  PENSIONS AND PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE (Dr. JITENDRA SINGH) :

(a)&(b) Yes, Sir . Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) has developed various Membrane Technologies for Water Purification.

- Ultra-filtration (UF) membrane technology removes turbidity and microbial contamination from contaminated water. UF coupled with physicochemical processes, removes arsenic and iron.
- Charged  Nano  filtration  (NF)  membrane  technology  removes  heavy  metals  and hardness in addition to contaminants removed by the UF process.
- Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane technology produces fresh water from seawater or brackish water.
- (c)       Bhabha  Atomic  Research  Centre  (BARC)  has  the  capability  to  deploy  suitable membrane  technologies  for        safe  drinking  water  for  Achutapuram  and  nearby villages  like  Anakapalle.  BARC  Technology  Display  and  Dissemination  Centre (BTDDC)  has  been  setup  at  Gitam  University,  Dibbapalem,  Visakhapatnam  for conducting  awareness  and  training  programs  in  villages  for  deploying  membrane based water purification technologies developed by BARC.
- (d)        Does not arise in view of (c) above.

*******
Lok Sabha Question No. 3435 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Development of ISRO
Ministry: SPACE
Asked by: ARUN KUMAR

(a) & (b)

Department of Space/ ISRO has been contributing in the field of space technology by building indigenous capabilities in the areas of - (i)  launch vehicle systems, comprising of various classes of launch vehicles (ii) earth observation, communication and navigation  satellites  addressing  essential  space  infrastructure; (iii)  space  applications  for  harnessing  the  benefits  of  space technology for national development & societal services; and (iv)

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## DEPARTMENT OF SPACE

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3435

## TO BE ANSWERED ON WEDNESDAY, MARCH 22, 2017 DEVELOPMENT OF ISRO

## 3435.   DR. ARUN KUMAR:

Will the PRIME MINISTER be pleased to state:

- (a) whether ISRO has emerged as a powerful institution in the field of space in recent years; and
- (b) if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  the  steps  being  taken  by  the Government to develop it as a top most centre of the world by providing autonomy to the scientists of ISRO?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF PERSONNEL, PG & PENSIONS AND IN THE PRIME MINISTER'S OFFICE

(DR. JITENDRA SINGH):

space  exploration  missions  towards  providing  opportunities  for space science and planetary research. Over the years, ISRO has launched various missions with a focus on national development, disaster management support and societal services. Department of Space is not competing with other countries but is focussed on the use of space technology for addressing specific issues of our country.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 3434 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Shortage of Spectrum
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: VINOD KUMAR BOIANAPALLI

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3434 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 ND   MARCH, 2017

## SHORTAGE OF SPECTRUM

3434. SHRI B. VINOD KUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  plans  to  provide  industry  with  an  option  to  buy  spectrum every  year  irrespective  of  their  interest  so  that  there  is  never  a  shortage  of  spectrum  in providing quality mobile services; and
- (b) if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) & (b) The  Department  has  conducted  spectrum  auction  every  year  from  2012 onwards  in  various  spectrum  bands  as  per  availability.  In  the  last  spectrum  auction conducted in October 2016, spectrum was put to auction in 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz and 2500 MHz bands. Further, the Government has also permitted  for  spectrum  sharing  and  spectrum  trading  among  telecom  service  providers. Auction,  sharing  and  trading  all  alleviate  shortage  of  spectrum,  besides  yielding  other desirable outcomes.

The Government has not yet made any plan to provide industry with an option to buy spectrum every year.

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Lok Sabha Question No. 3433 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Gurukul Schools
Ministry: MINORITY AFFAIRS
Asked by: BHEEMRAO BASWANTHRAO PATIL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF MINORITY AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTIONNO.3433 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## GURUKUL SCHOOLS

## 3433. SHRI BHEEMRAO B. PATIL:

Will the Minister of MINORITY AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has approved 16 'Gurukul' type residential schools for minority students across the country;
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT wise;
- (c) whether the Government also plans to establish 'Garib Nawaz Skill Development Centre', 'Begum Hazrat Mahal Scholarship' for girls for educational empowerment of minorities; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with the funds allocated/utilized for the last three years and the current year?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF MINORITY AFFAIRS (SHRI MUKHTAR ABBAS NAQVI)

(a) & (b):  The Government has approved 18 residential schools in Minority Concentration Blocks/Towns during 2016-17 in the States of Andhra Pradesh (6), Telangana (7), Karnataka (4)  and  Jharkhand  (1).  Maulana  Azad  Education  Foundation  (MAEF)  has  also  approved  a proposal of aiding the construction of ten Model Public Schools in the states of Uttar Pradesh & Haryana.

(c) & (d) : MAEF  has  recently  approved  the  scheme  of  Khwaja  Gharib  Nawaz  Skill Development  Training  for  Minorities  which  is  to  be  implemented  from  the  year  2017-18 through  Programme  Implementing  Agencies  (PIAs).  The  funds  utilized  under  the  Begum Hazrat Mahal National Scholarships for Meritorious Girls belonging to Minorities scheme for the  financial  year  2013-14,  2014-15,  2015-16  and  2016-17  are  Rs.  42.19  Crore,  Rs.  54.51 Crore, Rs. 57.60 Crore  and  Rs. 12.00 Crore  (data provisionalfor the year  2016-17) respectively.

*****
Lok Sabha Question No. 3428 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-03-22
Subject: Development of Railway Infrastructure
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: PARVESH SAHIB SINGH, SHASHI THAROOR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3428 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22.03.2017

## DEVELOPMENT OF RAILWAY INFRASTRUCTURE

3428.   SHRI PARVESH SAHIB SINGH:
2. DR. SHASHI THAROOR:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a)
- (b)
- whether the Railways has allocated USD 142 billion, to be spent over the next five years, for development of railway infrastructure;
- if so, the details thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  received  any  contributions  from international  agencies  such  as  the  World  Bank  (WB)  and  the International Finance  Corporation (IFC) towards  the  Railway Development Fund;
- (d) if so, the details thereof;
- (e)  whether  the  Government  would  consider  establishing  smaller RDFs  for  specific  zones  and  their  various  needs  including  the Southern Railway Zone;
- (f) if so, the details thereof; and
- (g) if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

(SHRI RAJEN GOHAIN)

(a) & (b): An investment plan for ₹ 8,56,020 crore over five years was announced in Railway Budget Speech 2015-16 to augment infrastructure  capacity  and  modernisation  which  includes  network decongestion and expansion (including electrification), National projects, Safety, Information Technology & Research, Rolling Stocks, Passenger  amenities,  High  Speed  &  Elevated  corridors  and  Station redevelopment etc.

(c) to (g): No, Madam. The World Bank was approached to explore the possibility  of  setting  up  of  a  fund  for  financing  infrastructure  and World  Bank  has  done  a  detailed  Scoping  and  Options  study  for creating such a fund. Establishing smaller RDFs for specific zones is not  contemplated  as  funds  required  by  zones  are  made  available through the Ministry of Railways.

- *****