OREANDA-NEWS. The Interim Report of the Committee headed by Dr. Bibek Debroy for Mobilisation of Resources for Major Railway Projects and Restructuring of Railway Ministry & Railway Board submitted in March, 2015 contains various recommendations on Reforms. These include, inter-alia, the following:-

?              Allowing Private entry into running both freight and passenger trains in competition with Indian Railways (IR) and Private Participation in various Railway Infrastructure services and Non-core activities like Production and Construction.

?              Allowing Private entry for the proposed Rolling Stock Units in Rae Bareilly, Bhilwara, Sonepat, Chhapra, Jalpaiguri, Kacharapara & Palakkad in addition to Madhepura and Marhowra.

?              Refine/Restructure the existing accounting system and the financial statements of IR need to be redrawn, consistent with principles and norms nationally and internationally accepted. 

The Interim Report of the Committee has also suggested that IR should focus on core activities to efficiently compete with the private sector. It has recommended that Railway Protection Force (RPF) should be de-linked from IR system and there should be phased pruning of the functions and numbers of Indian Railway Medical Service (IRMS) along with possibility of integrating the Railway Hospitals with Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) & integration of the existing Railway Schools into the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathana set-up.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.