Madhu Bansal, the wife of Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, on Tuesday said that a helpline number should be available for the safety and security of woman passengers in trains so that they can use it in times of emergency.
“I have said that a helpline number should be available for the safety and security of woman so that they can use it in times of emergency. There is a need to bring about improvement, cleanliness should be maintained and good quality of food should be provided,” said Madhu.
“Many people say that rail fares should not increase and I also want that rail fares should not increase,” she added.
Pawan Kumar Bansal, who will present the Railway Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha today, earlier held several round of discussions with Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram and the Planning Commission in this regard.
Bansal is likely to announce a number of passenger friendly measures, such as improvement in catering services, development of stations and launching of several new trains.
A majority of the country”s population will, however, keep a close eye on whether Bansal yields to pressure of hiking passenger fares yet again or looks at other measures to mobilise resources to offset the burden of the recent diesel price hike.
This will be the first Rail Budget to be presented by a Congress Minister after 17 years. (ANI)