{"id":43977,"date":"2024-12-12T06:12:59","date_gmt":"2024-12-12T00:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=43977"},"modified":"2025-05-06T07:19:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T01:49:57","slug":"lok-sabha-clears-railways-bill-to-enhance-independence-of-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/lok-sabha-clears-railways-bill-to-enhance-independence-of-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Lok Sabha Clears Railways Bill to Enhance Independence of Board"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why in the News?<\/li>\n<li>Introduction<\/li>\n<li>Key Features of the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/li>\n<li>Significance<\/li>\n<li>Opposition\u2019s Concerns<\/li>\n<li>Conclusion<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Why in the News?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha, despite disruptions.<\/li>\n<li>The Bill was passed five months after it was introduced on the floor of the House.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The <strong>Railways Act, 1989<\/strong> regulates various aspects of Indian Railways&#8217; administration and operation. The <strong>Indian Railway Board Act, 1905<\/strong> created the Railway Board as the central authority for railway governance.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/strong> repeals the 1905 Act and integrates provisions related to the Railway Board into the 1989 Act. This aims to simplify the legal framework by consolidating laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Key Features of the Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Repeal of the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill repeals the 1905 Act, which governed the establishment and powers of the Railway Board.<\/li>\n<li>Provisions from the 1905 Act are now incorporated into the <strong>Railways Act, 1989<\/strong>, for a unified legal framework.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Constitution of the Railway Board:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Empowers the central government to determine:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The number of Railway Board members.<\/li>\n<li>Qualifications, experience, and terms of service for the Chairman and members.<\/li>\n<li>Method of appointment for these positions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Streamlining Legal Provisions:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Consolidates provisions for easier administration and to reduce the need for cross-referencing between multiple laws.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Administrative Integration:<\/strong>\n<ul>\n<li>Maintains the Railway Board\u2019s central authority while aiming for operational efficiency and uniformity in governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Significance<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Legal Simplification<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Combines the provisions of the 1905 Act and the 1989 Act, reducing legislative redundancy and simplifying governance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Improved Governance<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Enables the central government to prescribe updated qualifications and service terms for Railway Board members, potentially improving leadership quality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Foundation for Future Reforms<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>Aligns with recommendations for a modernized railway structure, paving the way for potential decentralization and private sector participation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alignment with Development Goals<\/strong>:\n<ul>\n<li>The Bill is in line with India\u2019s broader infrastructure and economic development objectives, which depend heavily on an efficient railway system.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Opposition\u2019s Concerns<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Opposition leaders had raised multiple concerns:\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Privatisation Fears<\/strong>: Congress argued that the Bill could pave the way for privatising Indian Railways, reducing its accessibility for the poor.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Impact on Autonomy<\/strong>: Many MPs expressed apprehensions that increased government control over Board appointments might erode the autonomy of Indian Railways.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Passenger Concessions<\/strong>: Several MPs demanded the restoration of fare concessions for senior citizens, journalists, and economically weaker sections, which were discontinued during the pandemic.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024, is a step toward simplifying the legal framework governing Indian Railways.<\/li>\n<li>However, addressing longstanding challenges in organization, financial sustainability, and private sector involvement remains critical for modernizing and expanding the Railways&#8217; efficiency and profitability.<\/li>\n<li>A greater push for decentralization, transparent regulation, and infrastructure investments is essential to meet these goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1. Who presented India&#8217;s first Railways Budget?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>After India gained independence, the first Railway Budget was presented by John Mathai, the country&#8217;s first Railway Minister, in 1947. Mathai also went on to present two Budgets as India&#8217;s Finance Minister.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2. What is the present status of Indian Railways\u2019 electrification?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Indian Railways has completed electrification of 96.68 per cent of its broad gauge network, as it moved swiftly to become fully-electrified by 2024-25.<\/p>\n<p><strong>News: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/amid-disruptions-railways-amendment-bill-passed-in-the-lok-sabha\/article68972857.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Amid din, Lok Sabha clears Railways Bill to enhance independence of Board<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.financialexpress.com\/business\/railways-explained-railways-amendment-bill-2024-and-its-impact-on-indian-railways-3685240\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Financial Express<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Railways (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha, despite disruptions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":43978,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-43977","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43977"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43977\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43977"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}