Central Railway’s Nagpur Division on Tuesday achieved yet another distinction as it earnings from transportation of 3348 tonnes of oranges crossed Rs. two crores mark. However, more significant was the accolades for division after Railway Minister Piyush Goyal mentioned the record haulage of oranges in a single day. Today about 463 tonnes of oranges were loaded in division and dispatched to Shalimar in West Bengal in full rake. This is the largest ever transportation of orange of Ambiya Bahar in Orange belt of Central India through Railways in its history. Making full use of the 50 per cent freight subsidy announced by Railway Ministry by leveraging the schemes of Department of Food Processing, Central Government, railway officials reached out to farmers at various places.

 

In fact the establishment of Business Development Unit (BDU) has changed the dynamics of freight transportation for railways as it has brought in a new synergy in working and ensured in establishment of new records. The cohesive working of all branches is single most achievement of BDU which encompasses officials of all branches of Railways dealing with freight. The earnings of Rs 2.01 crore came from transportation of single commodity, that to in vegetable and fruits category, seems a national record. Old timers in division recalled that during last two decades atleast they have not heard of so much earnings in such a short period of time. The first Kisan Rail with oranges left from Nagpur on October 14 and thereafter almost every day one or two consignment would be dispatched. As per information, on Tuesday full rake carrying about 463.18 tonnes of oranges left from Nagpur railway station. The rake consisted of 20 parcel vans (VPs) plus one SLR. Senior officials from Operating, Commercial and Mechanical Branches joined hands to ensure smooth operations.

 

Division got the rake from Sangola in Solapur Division but maximum loading was done from Nagpur. Filed officials toured across the orange belt convincing the farmers, reaching out to traders engaged in food processing, APMC markets and briefed them about the availability of 50 per cent freight subsidy. The marketing efforts paid off and farmers and traders lined-up with packed consignment and loading was carried out swiftly. The reports pouring in at division states that maximum loading of 10 VPs was done at Warud, thereafter 9 VP at Pandhurna and 1 at Narkher railway station. Railways have capitalised on the record orange output this year and the timely announcement of freight subsidy has helped in faster dispatched of orange throughout the country. However said that the minute planning carried out by division officials in ensuring approval for currency till year end played significant role. Due to late rains officials knew that arrival of orange could get delayed and hence they briefed senior officials in Headquarters and this co-ordination is now paying fruits.

 

Prior to that on Saturday last, Nagpur Division had loaded 334.8 tonnes of oranges earning significant revenue through freight. About 10 rakes of Kisan Rail was dispatched from division to New Anand Nagar station to New Delhi and equal number of rakes to Shalimar. Through Kisan Rail about 2036.20 tonnes of oranges were dispatched leading to earning of Rs. 61.90 lakhs and 524 tonnes to Shalimar realising receipts of over Rs. 15 lakh Apart from that Nagpur Parcel Office also was not behind as it loaded 249 tonnes of oranges to destination across city. Parcels were dispatched to Bombay, Pune, Rourkela, Tata Nagar, Kharagpur, Chennai, Bengaluru, Ahemdabad and various other destination of the country ensuring that farmers gets fair remuneration for their efforts. The parcel office earnings through dispatches of orange parcel was around Rs. seven lakh.