Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, while presenting the Railway Budget for 2004-05 on Tuesday, said that he will take special measures to employment opportunity to the unemployed.
To fulfill this aim, the railway minister said that a new Bookstall Policy for Indian Railways has been formulated.
In this policy a 25 per cent reservation for allotment of bookstalls for Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes / Other Backward Classes, minorities, war widows, those below the poverty line, physically challenged individuals, railway employees' widows has been introduced on 'B', 'C' and 'D' class stations.
Unemployed graduates and their associations and philanthropic organisations only can get allotment on 'B', 'C' and 'D' class stations.
At 'A' class stations, a two packet tender system has been introduced.
The new policy does away with the system of the sole selling rights and provides for a uniform tenure of five years.