december 23, 1994

The Prime Minister, Mr. P. V. Narasimha Rao, today secured the resignations of the Union Health Minister, Mr. B. Shankaranand, the Minister of State for Rural Development, Mr. Rameshwar Thakur, and the Minister of State for Food, Mr. Kalpnath Rai. This action of the Prime Minister is expected to defuse the crisis faced by the ruling Congress (I) party and the Government both within and outside Parliament. Mr. Rao forwarded the resignations of three Ministers, the first two tainted by the stock scam and the third by the sugar scam, to the President this evening… The Opposition in Parliament had virtually stalled the proceedings of both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha the last few days demanding action (resignations) against Mr. Shankaranand and Mr. Thakur for their role in the stock scam. In fact, they even rejected the revised ATR stating it had nothing new to offer and continued to demand the Ministers resignation.

National policy on Rlys likely

The Centre is likely to formulate a National Railway Policy (NRP) re-defining the role of the Indian Railways and specifying its financial objectives, to make it a viable enterprise. The suggestion to frame the policy was made by the Railway Capital Restructuring Committee chaired by Mr. A. V. Poulose, former Financial Commissioner, Railways. The committee is understood to have given an operative draft outlining the broad contours of such a policy. It has also suggested that the draft be recast by the Government in a legally acceptable framework. Mr. Poulose submitted the first report on “The review of separation of Railway finances from general finances” to the Railway Minister, Mr. C. K. Jaffer Sharief.

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