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Q. Rashtriya Rail
SanrakshaKosh (RRSK): · A fund namely
‘Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh’ (RRSK) has been created in 2017-18 with a
corpus of ₹1 lakh crore over a period of five years for critical safety
related works. · It has been
created in the form of a Reserve Fund. It is a dedicated safety fund set up
by the Indian government to finance critical safety-related projects and
initiatives in the Indian Railways. · The primary
objective of the RRSK is to strengthen safety
measures, upgrade infrastructure, and modernize rail operations to
prevent accidents and enhance the overall safety of rail travel in the
country.
Key features of the
Rashtriya RailSanrakshaKosh (RRSK) include: · Funding Source: The RRSK is primarily funded through the allocation of budgetary
resources from the central government, which are earmarked for safety-related
projects in the Indian Railways. · Safety Projects: The fund is used to finance various safety-related projects, such as
track renewal and modernization, bridge rehabilitation, signaling upgrades,
rolling stock maintenance, level crossing elimination, and the adoption of
advanced safety technologies. · Separate Entity: The RRSK is maintained as a separate entity within the overall
financial framework of the Indian Railways to ensure that the allocated funds
are utilized exclusively for safety-related purposes. · Priority Projects: Projects that have a direct impact on safety
enhancement are given priority for funding from the Rashtriya Rail
SanrakshaKosh.
The CAG analysed
the performance of Rashtriya Rail SanrakshaKosh (RRSK) as well. The RRSK was
created in 2017-18 with a corpus of Rs 1 lakh crore over a period of five
years with an annual outlay of Rs 20,000 crore — Rs 15,000 crore from Gross
Budgetary Support and Rs 5,000 crore out of Railways Internal Resources. The
audit noted that Gross Budgetary Support of Rs 15,000 crore had been
contributed, but the actual generation of internal resources of Railways for
funding of the remaining Rs 5,000 crore per year to RRSK fell short of target
during these four years. “Thus, short deployment
of funds by Railways from internal resources to the tune of Rs 15,775 crore
(78.88 per cent) out of the total share of Rs 20,000 crore had defeated the
primary objective of creation of RRSK to support absolute safety in Railways”.
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