AMN
President Pranab Mukherjee has congratulated Parliament for making a new beginning in Financial Management through passage of annual budget by 31st of March this year. He was referring to the decision of the government to club the Rail Budget with the General Budget.
He said the government also preponed the date of presenting the Budget from last working day of February to the 1st of February. He termed all these as historic decisions. He stated that both the finance and appropriation Bills have been passed after scrutiny by the relevant Standing Committees, setting a benchmark in legislative history.
The President made these remarks while addressing a group of probationers of IRAS, IRPS, IRSS and IRSE of the Indian Railway Services and Indian Postal Service who had called on the President today at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
The President said both the Railway and Postal Services are today facing the challenge of keeping pace with technological advancements. Over the last few decades, telegrams have ceased to exist and emails have replaced letters to a large extent.
Mr Mukherjee said, to survive in this competitive world, one has to keep pace with the fast changing tools of Information and Communication Technology. The Railways is also facing the challenge of competition from cheap and fast airlines as well as improving their services.