The Hindu : National : Chidambaram asks Railways to cut expenditure

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Dec 17, 2004

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National

Chidambaram asks Railways to cut expenditure

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 16. The Union Finance Minister, P. Chidambaram, today called upon the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) personnel to improve competence by cutting costs and make the organisation vibrant and financially strong.

At the platinum jubilee function of the IRAS here, he referred to the huge investment opportunities in India and upcoming projects worth Rs. 46,000 crores, particularly for the Railways, and said the Railways should come up with bankable projects that could yield decent returns.

The organisation had made a valuable contribution to the economy, said Mr. Chidambaram. It registered a record growth of 8.3 per cent till October 2004-05, with passenger traffic growing by 5.13 per cent and goods traffic by 10.13 per cent. "This means the economy is doing well and [the] Railways is playing an important role. The economy can do better if we bring best practices to manage expenditure and innovative means to raise resources," he said.

"Improve performance"

The Railways should strive to become better in all spheres — finance, marketing and human resources, — and match the best in the world, he said. The IRAS personnel should not consider themselves accountants or book-keepers but financial managers, who could improve cash management.

The Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, said the Ministry was monitoring the finances on a day-to-day basis to ensure that unnecessary expenses were avoided. Efforts were also being made to mobilise resources at a cheaper cost from the public, financial institutions and overseas sources for completing ongoing projects and to undertake further development projects.

The other Minister of State for Railways, Narayanbhai Rathwa, asked the IRAS to improve the organisation's finances.

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