July 03: The Ministry of Railway has proposed to construct 100 new railway budget hotels in this rail budget presentation for meeting the needs of Commonwealth games as there will be huge rush of the visitors that may create problems of their shelter. But this proposal has created a new confusion as which authority will be liable for it.
The Ministry of Railways had composed a new department, Railway Land Development Authority (RLDA) last month for executing the overall bidding process of these hotels. But which department will take care of it as Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has been liable for taking care of all these services. There is no clear signal whether RLDA or IRCTC will get the liability for it.
The prime object of RLDA has been decided to develop new budget hotels on unused railway lands, but there is no description about its caretaking. If this new policy has been implemented, RLDA must have to go for the caretaking service that is presently under the supervision of IRCTC and then IRCTC will have to take care of catering and hospitality part only.
"Nothing has moved further ever since the authority is created. It is not clear who is in charge of the things," said a senior ministry official.
Earlier, Railway had decided to split the rush among Rail Yatri Niwas and Rail Ratna (budget hotels) that will under the supervision of private operators for the 15-year and 30-year on lease basis, according to railway ministry.
There was another plan to split the ownership of rooms between the builder and the railways according to 70:30 ratios, but there were huge high bidding in the initial tender that raised many eye-brows, so all the previous deals are now under strict scrutiny, the official sources revealed.
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