Mamata Banerjee's sense of humour during Railway Budget 2010 Speech

Listening to Rail Budget is not just important but is fun too! So if you had enjoyed Lalu Prasad Yadav's speech all these years, Mamata Banerjee won't disappoint you either. Here are some examples of her humour during 2010 Railway Budget speech:

"Rajdhani jaise bol rahi hoon na!" - When she was reading in speed
"If you don't listen na, I'll cut"- When there was lot of interruption and noise
"Unka naam kya hai... chillate bahut hain"- getting irritated at someone interrupting a lot
"Chup chaap baithega toh pura padhega,nahi tph nahi padhega"- responding to noise
"Isko naam deta hian kormo bhumi, first is matribhumi"
"Chapra kaha hain - Chapra?" Mamata attacking Lalu Prasad Yadav
"1 minute chillao, chillao"         
"Dekho bhai mereko pronouncation khrap ho jayga to aste aste bolli, chellao na, aree baba!"
"Mumbai mein 100 train diya to kuch kahe nehi bola, why why why bengal ke liye chillata hai"
"Kaam kiya hai iske liye lamba likh diya hai" - on the long list
"Khudi ko kar buland itna ke har taqdeer se pehle, khuda bande se ye pooche bata teri razaa kya hai" - quoting at the end of the Railway Budget 2010 speech
I thank Samiran Ghosh for helping me cover it all!

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Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget 2010 Speech Live Updates - Text

Mamata Banerjee started the speech by saying she had 2 considerations in mind: Viability of projects and social responsibility.

Mamata Banerjee announced Mission 2020 of short term and long term goals.

Here are the highlights, announcements and proposals of Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget 2010 speech: http://bombay-local.blogspot.com/2010/02/mamata-banerjees-railway-budget-2010_24.html

• No hike in passenger fare
• Free travel for cancer patients in Third AC and sleeper class; 75 percent concession for companion
• A special task force to be set up to clear investment proposals within 100 days.
• Railway exams to be conducted in Hindi, English and Urdu languages
• Considering that bottled water turns out to be expensive for the passengers, Mamata Banerjee proposed 6 bottling plants that would help provide clean and fresh water at much cheaper rates. Plant locations - Ambala, Thiruvananthapuram, Farakka, Amethi and Nasik
• No privatization of railways
• Rs 1300 Crores to be allocated for amenities for passengers
• Improvement of security of women passengers
• 5 sports academies to be set up
• RFID technology for freight transport
• Launching of Double Decker trains (pilot launch)
• Ex-servicemen to be inducted to RPF (Mamata announced this after quoting Lata Mangeshkar's song  Zara yaad karo qurbaani)
• Insurance facility for licensed porters
• Women's RPF wing to be formed 
• Railways to set up Rabindra Museum in Howrah, Geetanjali Museum in Bolpur  
• Bharat Tirth train to mark Rabindranath Tagore's 150th birth anniversary
• Special train during Commonwealth Games
• 101 new suburban trains in Mumbai
• New suburban trains in Chennai
• New train service to Bangladesh
• No increase in freight tarriff 
• High-speed dedicated passenger corridors
• Freight reduction on foodgrains and kerosene
• Houses for railway employees of 10 years
• 10 new Duronto trains  
• 54 new trains in 2010
• New tourist trains on tourist routes
• 80000 new wagons
• New Janmabhoomi train between Ahmedabad and Udhampur
• New Karmabhoomi train for working class
• Matribhoomi special trains for women
• Service charge on AC fares to be Rs 20 instead of Rs 40
• Mobile e-ticketing facility at hospitals, courts, universities, IITs, IIMs
• Design, Development and Testing centre to be set up at Bangalore
• Railway research centre at IIT Kharagpur
• 13000 unmanned level crossings to be converted to manned level crossings

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Mid-Day lists Mamata's unkept promises

I came across a Mid-Day report of the promises Mamata Banerjee made in the Rail Budget 2009 - Mamata Banerjee's unkept list of promises. Ha! I doubt if we'll take promises made by her today seriously. Who knows, when the Rail Budget 2011 will be presented next year, false promises of 2010 will add to the list of those in 2009!

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A look at the highlights of Railway Budget 2009

Before we start listening to Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget 2010 speech, I suggest you take a look at what she 'promised' in the previous Rail Budget.

Why? Coz you'd get an idea about how seriously you can take the promises she will make in the 2010 Rail Budget.

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Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget 2010 Speech - Date and Time

Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget 2010 Speech will start on 24th February at 12 pm. The Railway Budget speech will be telecast live across various television channels including DD News, CNBC Awaaz, Lok Sabha TV, NDTV Profit, NDTV 24x7 and Times Now.

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What do you expect from Railway Budget 2010?

Mamata Banerjee will present the Railway Budget 2010 today, on 24th February 2010. Rumours are that there might not be increase in passenger fares but the freight charges might go up. Also, with her focus on West Bengal elections, she might be biased towards her state.

One interesting thing is that across the TV channels and newspapers, when people were asked what are they expecting from the budget, they hoped that Mamata Banerjee did not INCREASE the fares. I hope the same. But did you notice one thing? No one requested her to DECREASE the fares, bringing to light the fact that people believe (me too) that the fares are just perfect and they do not wish to pressurize the Railway Minister with unnecessary demands. Now that people are not causing inconvenience to Mamata Banerjee, she too must add to their comfort! She claims that the budget is prepared in the best interest of the common man. Let's see!

 What do I expect from the Rail Budget?

• Much better security 
• Better frequency of some trains
• Ideal railway stations will all basic amenities including most definitely super clean toilets
• Strict measures to ensure that people do not cross tracks
• Training to railway personnel to be polite to commuters specially senior citizens (click to read an incident)

Do drop in your comments about what you expect from the Rail Budget.

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Teenager Sagar Dogle lost life over a Mumbai local train seat issue

My condolences to the family of 18-year old Sagar Dogle who lost his life after being thrown off from a moving local train on 20th February. And why? Because someone wanted to occupy his seat in the train!

Just yesterday I had written about the condition of commuters in Mumbai local trains:

"During peak hours we travel in Mumbai local trains as if we were in hell. Standing and balancing ourselves in overcrowded trains sometimes on one foot is not a joke. All we focus on is ensuring that we don't fall off the train."

Little did I know that today I'll read a report of a young guy losing his life just because someone wanted to travel comfortably!

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WR prepares for future flash strikes by motormen

Flash strikes seem to have become the 'in' thing with the motormen. I don't say that their demands are unreasonable. The motormen work with great responsibility on their shoulders and they deserve the best. However, protesting at the cost of commuters' convenience is something very uncalled for. C'mon, during peak hours we travel in Mumbai local trains as if we were in hell. Standing and balancing ourselves in overcrowded trains sometimes on one foot is not a joke.

All we focus on is ensuring that we don't fall off the train.

Flash strikes leave us in a place worse than hell. I'm glad that WR is taking steps to prevent us from being struck by strikes.

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