Sops for women, senior citizens in Rail Budget

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) Amid continuous protests by the NDA, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today presented in the Lok Sabha the Railway Budget 2007-08, declaring that cash surplus will reach Rs 20,000 crore by March 31, 2007 as compared to last year's surplus of Rs 13,000 crore.

Dressed in white Kurta-Pyjama, Mr Prasad blamed the previous BJP-led NDA alliance for creating a mess with the Indian Railways, which has one of the biggest networks in the world.

He said lower berths in AC three-tier would be reserved for women and senior citizens.

The Operating ratio of the railways is poised to reach 78.7 per cent from last year's figure of 83 per cent.

The target for additional freight next fiscal will be 60 million tonnes.

Scripting the success story of the Railways, Mr Prasad said the Railways will carry 20 to 30 per cent excess cement this fiscal.

The Minister assured that funds would not be a constraint for the development of the Railway infrastructure.

Mr Prasad said there would be 800 additional coaches in passenger trains as compared to last year's figure of 700.

The NDA disrupted the presentation of the Budget demanding an explanation on the suppression of the news of detention of Italian fugitive Ottavio Quattrocchi, wanted in connection with the Bofors kickbacks deal, in Argentina.

At times, the shouts became so shrill that it was difficult to hear the Minister's speech. For most of the time Mr Prasad remained unruffled, but once in a while he lost his cool.

True to his style, Mr Prasad recited a few couplets and spoke in his colloquial manner, much to the delight of the members on the Treasury benches.

The Minister said that the Railways will ''continue to play the volume game'', transporting the largest number of passengers and freight.

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