Full text of railway minister PK Bansal's Railway Budget (2013-14) proposals

Railway Budget 2013-2014: Speech of PK Bansal, minister of railways on 26 February, 2013

1. Madam Speaker, I rise to present before this august House the Revised Estimates for 2012-13 and a statement of estimated receipts and expenditure for 2013-14. I do so with mixed feelings crossing my mind.
   
   While I have a feeling of a colossus today, it is only ephemeral and is instantaneously overtaken by a sense of humility.
   
   Democracy gives wings to the wingless, cautioning us all the while, that howsoever high or wide our flight may be, we must remain connected to the ground.
   
   For giving me this opportunity, I am grateful to the Hon'ble Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh and the UPA Chairperson, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and pay my homage to the sacred memory of Sh. Rajiv Gandhi who introduced me to the portals of this highest Temple of Indian democracy.
   
2. Madam Speaker, as I proceed, my thought goes to a particularly severe cold spell during the recent winter, when it was snowing heavily in Kashmir valley, and suspension of road and air services had brought life to a grinding halt.
   
   Photographs in Newspapers showing a train covered with snow emerging from a similar white background, carrying passengers travelling over the recently commissioned Qazigund - Baramulla section instilled in me a sense of immense pride.

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