Railways to review its land acquisition policy

September 18th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee has said an external agency would probe allegations of graft during her predecessor's tenure. Lawmakers belonging to Bihar's Janata Dal (United) had alleged that that during the tenure of former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad, people were asked to cede land to the railways in exchange for jobs and contracts in the organisation.

September 17th, 2009 BHUBANESWAR - The Orissa government, which Thursday reviewed the progress of 14 greenfield projects underway in the state, said most of the companies setting up these projects have not completed land acquisition. "Acquiring land is the biggest problem before these mega projects.

September 16th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The Ministry of Railways has decided on Wednesday that there shall not be any forceful acquisition of land for the railway projects. According to a press release by the ministry, it has been decided to comprehensively review Railways Land Acquisition policy to ensure that forceful acquisition of land, including agriculture land, is completely avoided.

August 20th, 2009 KOLKATA - Rubbishing talk that efforts are on to privatise the Indian Railways, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee Thursday said she would be the last person to do so. "In some quarters there is mischievous talk that we are trying to privatise the railways.

August 15th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Saturday said it will acquire land for the projects announced by Railways Minister and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee. Banerjee, whose party has been involved in several anti-land acquisition agitations in the state, has announced many projects for the state, and the railways need at least 321 acres for eight projects across various districts.

August 5th, 2009 KOLKATA - The West Bengal government Wednesday requested Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee to hand over the excess railway land to the state government for developing small and medium-scale industries. "We, on behalf of the department for state cottage and small-scale industries, sent a letter to Mamata Banerjee, requesting her to hand over the excess land of the railways to the state government.

August 2nd, 2009 SINGUR - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday said her ministry was interested in setting up a national project on the site of the now abandoned Tata Nano factory in this rural belt of West Bengal. "We want industry to come up in Singur.

July 29th, 2009 CHANDIGARH - Nearly a decade after starting work on a 110-km rail link between the industrial hub of Ludhiana with this Punjab capital, a railway official Wednesday said the link will be operational by 2011. "If the work goes as planned then the Chandigarh-Ludhiana railway link will become operational by 2011.

July 26th, 2009 KOLKATA - Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday announced a new suburban train, Andolan Express, which will ply between West Bengal's Singur and Howrah station from Aug 1 this year. "The Indian Railways will introduce a new train from Aug 1 which will ply between Hooghly district's Singur to Howrah station everyday," Banerjee said while inaugurating the computerised reservation counter at New Alipur station here.

July 14th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Acquisition of land remains the biggest challenge in road projects development, Road Transport and Highways Minister Kamal Nath said here Tuesday. "When I look at the challenges ahead I feel that today land acquisition remains the biggest challenge for road construction," Kamal Nath said while addressing a conclave on highways development.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - The railways ministry has asked the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corp (IRCTC) to set up budget hotels at all major stations either directly or through the public-private partnership (PPP) route. "IRCTC follows the two packet open competitive bidding system to grant licenses.

July 10th, 2009 NEW DELHI - Despite the slowdown that has seen job cuts across sectors, the Indian Railways will fill 1.7 lakh vacant posts after reviewing the recruitment process, Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee said Friday. The Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) will review the hiring process and address regional aspirations and problems witnessed during recruitment in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Assam, Banerjee told the Rajya Sabha.

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 2nd, 2009 NEW DELHI - India's Economic Survey for 2008-09 has suggested that the government amend laws related to land acquisition and land use in order to address land-related disputes. The survey, tabled in parliament by the finance minister, said the government "amend the land acquisition and rehabilitation law in order to ensure equity between the land owners including farmers, land users and the developers".

February 25th, 2009 NEW DELHI - A new book explaining how the second largest railway network in the world is managing disasters - both man-made and natural - was released here Tuesday. Railways Minister Lalu Prasad released the book, titled 'Disaster Management in the Indian Railways', written by Minister of State for Railways R.