Mamata likely to reply to discussion on Railway budget today

August 5th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will inaugurate the first ever 'Only Ladies' EMU train services in Northern Railway between Delhi-Palwal at New Delhi station today. In the same function, Union Minister and Congress leader Vilasrao Deshmukh will also inaugurate another 'Only Ladies' EMU train services by remote, which will run from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus to Panvel in Mumbai suburban in Central Railway.

July 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee kept up her promise of a 'ladies special' for harried commuters in Kolkata on Sunday. Banerjee flagged off the ladies special EMU, which will run between Howrah and Bandel stations in Kolkata.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Indian Railways has over 1.7 lakh vacancies for various grades, which will be filled in after reviving the existing recruitment process, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee informed the Rajya Sabha today. Replying to a question, Banerjee said the review of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) would also examine regional aspirations and problems raised during the railway recruitment process in Maharashtra, Assam, and Karnataka.

July 9th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said her ministry would look at providing infrastructure and land for setting up Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). "We might even look at building IITs in the future," Banerjee told the Lok Sabha in a discussion on the railway budget.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Arun Jaitley Tuesday criticised Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee for taking the Indian Railways into "non-core areas", and said that will threaten its economical and social viability. "The fundamental principle of any efficient management is to concentrate on core area of competence and ignore all non-essential and non-core activities," Jaitley said while participating in a discussion on the railway budget in the Rajya Sabha.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Former railways minister Lalu Prasad Tuesday urged his successor Mamata Banerjee to prepare a report on his tenure within seven days and added that he was prepared to apologise to the nation if any irregularities were found. "Within seven days, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials, railway officials and planning commission officials should be called and a report should be published on my tenure, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad said in the Lok Sabha during a discussion on the railway budget.

July 7th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Tuesday asked Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee "not to make Indian Railways an East India Company and alleged that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has favoured West Bengal at the cost of many other states in the rail budget. "India is not (West) Bengal.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Friday welcomed the Railway budget presented by Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee. "This budget is unique in the way inclusivity and overall development has been the focus without losing focus on safety, technology adoption and commercialization while providing opportunities for industry though its capacity expansion programme and setting up infrastructure through PPP mode", said Chandrajit Banerjee, Director General, CII.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Aware of Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee's temper, Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday gestured her party MPs not to upset her when she presented the railway budget in the Lok Sabha. Banerjee clashed with Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) MPs as she began her budget speech.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Accusing Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on doing nothing new in the rail budget, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad on Friday said that she had used his achievements in the ministry to build her case. "Is this a budget? She has just read out what I had announced during my stint...She suffers from a complex," he said.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee will present a "pro-people" budget today. Talking to reporters here, Mamata said, "It will be a pro-people budget, a simple budget, people's budget." She said that she only got 15 days to work on it, as the concerned officials were busy preparing it.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in parliament house Friday morning to present her ministry's budget for this fiscal, promising to address the demands of the average passenger. "My budget will be of the people, by the people and for the people," Banerjee told reporters before leaving for parliament house to present the railway budget in Lok Sabha, the lower house.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Friday said that Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has done a highly competent job by presenting a pro-poor Rail budget.

July 3rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has arrived in Parliament to present a "pro-people" budget today. Before arriving at Parliament, Mamata said, "It will be a pro-people budget, a simple budget, people's budget." She said that she only got 15 days to work on it, as the concerned officials were busy preparing it.

July 1st, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said that the railway budget would be a "pro-people" budget. "It will be a pro-people budget, a simple budget, people's budget," Banerjee said after an all-party meeting here.