Nine days remaing of the interim Budget, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has been given additional charge of Finance and Corporate Affairs ministries in view of the indisposition of Arun Jaitley, who is currently undergoing treatment abroad, an official release from the Rashtrapati Bhavan said Wednesday.
According to the release, the President, as advised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, directed that during the period of Jaitley's indisposition, the portfolios of the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Corporate Affairs, held by him, be temporarily assigned to Goyal, in addition to his existing portfolios.
The BJP-led NDA government will be presenting its last Budget on February 1.
It further said that Jaitley will remain a minister without portfolio during the period of his indisposition or till such time he is able to resume his work as the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Corporate Affairs.
This will be the second stint of Goyal in both the ministries as he had headed the crucial portfolios for 100 days when Jaitley had undergone a kidney transplant in May last year.
Jaitley had resumed charge of the ministries of finance and corporate affairs, returning to work on August 23, last year.
Speaking a fortnight ahead of the Budget, Jaitley underlined that there have been precedents of interim budgets containing major policy announcements to tackle an urgent situation.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has announced relief for the unemployed in the country. Goyal has announced that four lakh posts will be recruited for Indian Railways. In the coming two years, a total of 4 lakh employees will be recruited to the place of retired staff and other seats.
Goyal said, last year we recruited 1.5 lakh posts. The remaining 2 lakh 30 thousand employees will be filled. At present, there are 1,032 thousand posts below the railway line. One lakh employees will be retiring in the next two years. So, around four lakh employees will be recruited in the coming two years in the coming two years, so that the old C and D category and the recruitment space will be recruited, Goyal said.
This will be done in two phases. In the first phase, an advertisement for 1 lakh 31 thousand 428 posts will be removed in February or March. In the second phase, an advertisement for 99 thousand posts will be removed in May-June. Meanwhile, 10 per cent reservation for the economically backward candidates will be given in the recruitment of 2 lakh 30 thousand new seats.
