Budget 2017: All party meeting called by government ahead of the session

New Delhi: On Monday an all party meeting is called by the government ahead of budget session at 11.30am. A similar meeting is called by Lok Sabha speaker at 7pm. The Narendra Modi government is set to present its fourth Budget in the ensuing session of Parliament starting February 1. Budget 2017: Fencing of Delhi-Howrah & Mumbai routes to improve Fencing of the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai railway routes, formation of the Railway Holding Company, and adequate fund allocation for strengthening tracks and bridges will be the highlights of the proposals in the upcoming Budget 2017-18, officials have said. Railway Budget merged with General Budget will have about two-page mention of railways' upcoming activities, including major projects, expenditure and revenue targets for the next fiscal. Railways has embarked on an ambitious project to speed up train movement in busy corridors and accordingly undertaken an ardous task of fencing off the Delhi-Howrah and Delhi-Mumbai routes at a cost of about Rs 45 lakh per km to run trains at 160 km per hour. Fencing off the entire route is crucial for running trains at 160 km per hour which can be later raised to 200 km per hour, a senior Railway Ministry official said. Describing it as a paradigm shift for rail network development, he said fencing is essential for preventing trespassing and cattle movement to ensure high speed and safety and it will find prominent mention in the budget papers. Budget 2017: Formation of the Railway Holding Company The national transporter is forming up a holding company with networth of Rs 34,000 crore comprising 14 railways PSUs including IRCTC, RITES, Concor, RailTel and MRVC, to leverage loan from the market with zero debt and also be a beneficiary in case of selling of the shares of its subsidiaries. Budget 2017: Rights body for enhanced funding for child Noting a "constant decline" in budgetary allocation for children amid malnourishment, child labour and lack of education, rights body CRY has advocated for an increased funding to ensure child welfare in the upcoming Union Budget. Child Rights and You (CRY), a non-profit organisation, has also demanded the backing of child protection measures by a "financial memorandum", to ensure proper implementation of schemes. Budget 2017: Trinamool to skip on the first day The Trinamool Congress, which is angry over the arrest of its two MPs by CBI in connection with the chitfund scam, will not attend Parliament on February 1 when the Budget is presented, citing Saraswati Puja on that day as the reason. Trinamool will also not attend the all-party meeting convened by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan this evening ahead of the Budget session of Parliament beginning tomorrow. "Trinamool will not attend Parliament on February 1 because of Saraswati Puja which is a big day in Bengal," party leader and MP Derek O'Brien said. He said that on Saraswati Puja, day, there is a custom of keeping away from work and not even touching the tools. "Saraswati Puja is beyond a religious festival. It is a socio-cultural festival of Bengal," he added. Budget will be presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Wednesday. About not attending this evening's all-party meeting, he said this was because Trinamool supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banshee had called a meeting of party MPs for today "10 days back". Asked whether the party was "boycotting" these proceedings or just skipping, he replied, "It is open for your interpretation". Trinamool Congress has been angry over the arrest of its two MPs Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal by CBI in connection with the Rose Valley Group chit fund scam.