NFIR of IndianRailwaymen Federation National ROAD,NEWDELHI' 11O055 3, CHELMSFORD Afliliated to : . IndianNationalTradeUnionCongress(INTUC) InternationalTransport Workers' Federation(lTF)

23.05.2017

No.IV/IvIR/Con es.I 20 17 The GeneralSecretariesof Affiliated Unions of NFIR. Dear Brother, ''tP"

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Messagefrom Shri SureshPrabhu,Hon'ble Minister of Railways to the Indian Railways personnel(retired & serving)'

Pleasefind enclosedcopy of Mossageof Shri SureshPrabhu,Hon'ble Minister the message of Railways to the railway e*ploy""s (retired & serving). The contentsof may be goneinto and circulatedamong servingand retired employees. on the The Federationat the sametime invites commentsif any, from affiliates messageof Hon'ble MR. .

Yours fraternallY,

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(Dr. M. Raghavaiah) ' .1 GeneralSecretarY I Encl: As above. Copy to NFIR Media'

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DearFriend, l n d i a n R a i l w a y si s t h e l i f e l i n e o f t h e n a t i o n a n d c a r r i e s a b o u t 2 3 m i l l i o n p a s s e n g e rdsa i l ya n d c a r r i e sa b o u t 1 -b i l l i o nt o n n e so f f r e i g h ta n n u a l l yy. o u are alvare t h a t t h e I n d i a nR a i h v a y o s p e r a t i o n sa n d l o g i s t i c si s a c o m p l e r p h e n o m e n o nh a n d l e d tirelesslyby its employees.I salutethe grit and dedicationof eachemployeeof lndian presentor retired.As previousemployeesof this organisation, Railways" you havegiven y o u r b l o o da n d s w e a t i n r u n n i n gt h i s o r g a n i s a t i oann d r e a c ht h e c o m m a n d i n g heights r ' v h e r iet s t a n d st o d a y .l t i s r i g h t l ys a i dt h a t o n c ea R a i l w a ym a n , a l w a y sa R a i i w a ym a n . Although you have retired, I am sure you would have keenly followed the developments that havetaken placein IndianRailwaysover the lastthreevears. l, asthe Ministerfor Railways, had announceda slewof initiativesin the lasttwo y e a r sA . c t i o nh a sb e e n i n i t i a t e do n a Ha n n o u n c e m e n a t sn d r x a n yo f t h e m h a v ea l r e a d y b e e nc o m p l e t e dA' l l e f f o r t sa r e n o w a i m e da t c o n s o l i d a t i nagn d c r e a t i n ga c r i t i c am l ass f o r h o l i s t i ce x p e r i e n c eH . o w e v e r ,i t m a y b e a p p r e c i a t e dt h a t s o m e c h a n g e sm a y b e visiblein the short term; for others initiativesto fructify a longer gestationperioci w o u l db e r e q u i r e d . 7-

S o m eo f t h e g o a l st h a t w e h a v es e t f o r o u r s e l v e tso b e f u l f i l l e db y 2 0 2 Ci n c l u d e thefollowing: .

R e s e r v eadc c o m m o d a t i oonn t r a i n sa v a i l a b l o en d e m a n o

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T i m et a b l e df r e i g h t r a i n s

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Highend technologyfor safety

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E l i m i n a t i oonf u n m a n n e dl e v e lc r o s s i n gosn B Gn e t w o r k

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P u n c t u a l i t@ y 95%

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s p e e do f f r e i g h tt r a i n s@ S O k m p&h M a i l / E x p r e srsr a i n s@ g 0 k m p h

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S e m i - h i gshp e e dt r a i n sa l o n gt h e g o l d e nq u a d r i l a t e r a l

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Sheei Cor"itinuation .

of humanwaste Zerodirectdischarge

Theparasthat followindicatethe statusof someof the iniiiatives.

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ln 2016-17, lR commissionedabout 2855 kms of lines for passengerservices, which is the highestever, and in 2017-18,the target is 3,500 krns.

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Since2015, lR has sanctionedabout 12,790 kms of doubling to overcome the problemof congestionover the high-densitynetwork.

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expectedto increase'to19 km per day as against7,km BG linescommissioning per day now.

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About 2,013 kms of electrification has been completed in 2016-17 and new electrificationprojectsof 4,000 km have been sanctioned in Budget2017-18.A perspectiveplan for electrificationof core net!ryorkof Railwayshas been drawn up.

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The entire rail network of North-Eaststates has been converted to BG. BG connectivity to all the capitals of the North-Eastern states is targeted for achievementby ?020.

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Effortsare on to procure modern, state of the art light weight rolling stock to enablehigher speedsand greatercarryingcapacity.Terminalsand good-sheds are proposedto be rnodernizedand used as multi-modallogistichubs through engagementwith the privatesector.

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Two DedicatedFreightCorridorsat a cost of Rs. 1 lakh crore are expectedto be by 2019.lvlonitcringof DFCs beingdone with the help of drones. commissioned of these DFCswill add 3300 kms of new iines to the existing Commissioning Reportsfor 3 new DFCsare currentlyuntjerconsideration. netr,vork.

o A high-speedcorridor has been sanctionedfrom Mumbai to Ahmedabad at a cost of Rs. 1 lakh crore and is expected io be comrnissioneciby 2023. The the work hasaireadybeenset up companyfor irnplementing o A paradigmshift has been broughtinto the aoproachto net'*ork development, especiallyfor upgrading existing network to higher speeds. Detailed studies have been conductedto preparea plan to adopt a corridor-based approachfor

Sheei Ccntinr-raiion upgrading busiest routes to 200 kmph. As the DFCs, currently under construction,are operationalised,the existingupgradedcorridors will be able to provide overnight services from Delhi to the metro cities of Mumbai and Kolkata. r

Mumbai Urban TransportationProjectPhaselll project has been sanctioned.

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Investmentplan of Rs.8.56 lakh crore drawn up

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Funds to the tune of Rs. 1.5 lakh crore tied up from LIC for financing rai! projects. The focus of all investmentscontinues to be decongestion of the a!Enetwork,eiectrificatlonand investmentin safetyrelatedassets-

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In 2015-15, Indian Railways invested over Rs. 93,000 crore in construction, procurementand replacement of assetsthroughtheir Planexpenditure.

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The Indian Railwaysare erpectedio close2015-17with a capital expenditureof Rs.1.21lakhcrore.

the Plansizehasbeenpeggedby the Railways For2Ot7-18, at Rs.1,31,000 crore. Total expenditurefrom April 2015- March 2018t3 years|about Rs.3.5 lakh croreof capitalexpenditureagainstan averageof Rs.48,000croreduring2OO92014. S,: ii: r i::* r li: r jr,'* :;

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Expenditureon safetyrelatedactivities- Rs.63053crore in 2016-17RE.lt was only Rs39,200crorein ?013-14and Rs45,048Crcresin 2015-16.

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were elinninated 1987levelcrossings and 1306 ROBs/RUBs constructedin 201617,ihe hrghestevertill date

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To liquidatethe backlogof renewalof assetsand to ensure safer running of trains,a RashtriysRsil Sanrckshal(osh has been createdrryitha corpus of Rs. 1 lakhcrore,to be spentover a periodof five years.

e lR proposesto use the proceedsof the SafetyFundto leveragetechnologyand carry out infi"astructure upgradesa0art from re-irainingand skillingits staff. Workingtorryards the objectiveof eliminationof unmanned level crossingson

Ccniinuatron S heet the BG network by 2020, three zonal Railways {west-central, Eastern and central)haveeliminatedthem on thbir network.This wifl be taken forward to its logical conciusion by utilizing the funds available through the Rasirfriyo Rai! SanrakshaKostt. o Further, it is proposed to provide automated monitoring systems with online collection and analysis of data which will hetp in minimizing manual dependencein detection of defects on running trains and help in arresting accidentsbecauseof such defects. Strengthening of rolling stock capabilityby improvement in couplers, bogies and suspension will help in movlng torvards safer runnin! of trains. From next FY,the production of non-LHBcoacffi has been stopped such that passengertravel is safer and existing conventional coachesare being retro-fitted with safer couplers which will prevent coaches climbingon eachother in timesof accidents. ,,ii:;'-c :;;..:: * t l. r,r.g ; ril, :: rt:

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Introducedrndia'siastedtrain GatimaanExpress @ 1G0kmph

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As was announcedin the Budget of 2016-17, nevr train products Hurnsafar as well as a long distanceunreservecjservice,Antyodaya have been introducedand a premium service, Tejas, and overnight doubie-decker service tJDAy r.rill be introduced soon' New coaches with modern faciritiesfor the unreserved passenger calledDeenDayaluccacheshavebeen pressed into service.

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Indian Railu;aysis also underiakingrefurbishment of existing coachesfor a pleasantanrjmore comfortabiepassenger experience.

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In rine with the therne of 'sugamay Bharat, and to make Rairlvaystations modern and passengerfriendly,till date, 316 escalators& 17g lifts have been comrnissioned at A-1,A & c categorystationsand stations of tourist imsortanc€ over lR and another 500 stations shall be made differently-abled passenger friendryby providingrifisand escalators at thesestations.

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lt is alsoproposedto progressiveiy provideaccesscontrol at stations to providea better customerexperienceand controrticketress travering.

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An app is beingdeveropedto provideintegrated servicesto passengers.

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lR has initiated a SMS-based CleanMy CoochSeruire for cleaning trains on demand. lR intendsto introducea conceptof 'CoocfiMitra'which will be a single window inierface to register all coach related requirementsof passengers travelling in reserved coaches, such as, cleaning, disinfection, linen, train lighting, air conditioningand wat€ringof coaehes. The number of trains covered by On Board HousekeepingServicesis also being increasedto over 1OOO. An independent third Farty survey of 407 major stations on cieanliness parameterswas carried out in 2S16.Railwaysare taking necessaryaction to improve the cleanlinessstandardsof their stations.A similar survey cf .pilway stationswill be carriedout againthis year.A third-partysurveyon cleanliness of importanttrainsis alsoproposedto be done in 2017. r

Wi-Fi providedat more than 100 stations

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Gave voice to customers by leveragingsocial media, real time redressal of grieuances

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8221MillionPassenger Travelledasagainst8151 Million passengers in 2015-16

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Passengers bookedabout 70 millionmore than lastyear.{+0.89%)

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Passenger Earnings estimatedat Rs"2,000 croremore than lastyear

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The total earningsare estimatedto be around fls.4?, 4C0 crore. This is the highestever passenger earnings.

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1st time in rece*t year negativegrowth has been seizedand increasein the numberof passenge!' and Earningstarted

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Speedingup of trains:35CItrains speededup.104trains convertedto superfast expresstrains.

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t w i n b a ckthe iastmodalshar e,lndianRailwaysprcposestc l n th e p u rsu i to implementend to end integratedtransportsolutionfor selected commodities players. throughpartnerships with logisric

Corriinr:atian Sneet r successfurtriars conductedfor zS-tonaxreroadrightwagons It is also intendedto conduct trials for dwarf containersto capture the dsmestic cargo market' New types of commodity-specific containersare being developed with a view to capturingnew commoditytraffic. Freightrationalizationcarried out - port congestion and busy seasonsurcharge dropped,dual pricingpolicyfor iron ore withdrawn Keycustomermanagersappointed Longterm servicelevel agreementsbeingsigned with key custorners

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Pilot conducted for time tabled freight trains 47 sidingsto be commissionedby March 2017 overallloadingis about 1107.1l\4T.Thisis the highestever annualfreightloading by lR {previousbest of 1104.2ivtTin ?015-15) lron ore roadingis the highestever at 1"37-2 MT {previousbest was r.36.gMT in 2007-08) Steelloadingis the highesteverat 48.3 MT {previousbestwas 42.5 MT in 2015_ 16) RawMateriarfor steerprantsfoadingis highest ever at 21 MT {previousbest was 20.3in 201s-1S) 'other

Goods'roadingis the highestever-79.9 MT i previausbest vras 7g.05 MT in 2015-16) Highestever coal loadingfrom cll: Yearlyloading from coal lndia Limiiec sources is expectedto be around 223 rakesper day which is the highesi ever against 212.8rakesper day last year. !"ionthlyLoadingfrom cfl sourcesin the month of March 17 u,,asafso the highestever- 253-5rakesper da,;against 233.9rakesper day iastyear. container loading in rv'tarch17 is the highest ever rnonthryroading4.4T MT was iprevious-best 4.ZgtulTin Jan15

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Contractsfor redevelopmentof Habibganiand Gandhinagarstationshavebeen awardedwhile the bidding processfor Anand Vihar, Biiawasanand Surat stationsis underwaY.

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lnvitationdocumentsfor 23 stationsof the first phasehavealsobeenissuedand 25stationsin all arelikelyto be awardedbeforethe closeof thisfinancialyear. and work ol Varanasistationhasbeen entrustedto RITES The redevelopment as part stationis alsobeingdeveloped on it shortty.Bhubaneswar will commence project' citydevelopment of SMART Measuresfor non-fare revenues: c Viny!wraPPingof trains o 2,00,000Raildisplaynetwork screensacross2000 stationsfor advertising dissemination , and information rights c Soleadvertising c

Railradio

.) Commercialleasingof railwayland !'tit:*er*is*fi*n *y #;;iiiscii** *rzd*;iiing *:#g* t*thr:*i*gy r More than 1,250 POS machines at around 750 PRS locations and 80O POS machinesat around 340 major suburbanUTScounters have been installedsince 10th December.With this, cashlesstransactionsin reservationshave gone up from 58 Per cent to 68 Per centr

9g per cent of freight receipts are through cashlessrnode while efforts are cn to make it L00 per cent. 99.9 per cent of paymentsmade by Railvtaysare cashless.

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A group has been set up for providinga common,enterprise',videlnformation& Technologyfabric which shall integrateall existingICTsystems Communication and createa DigitallyEnabled,Data Driven Indian Railways'

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A comprehensiveaction plan has been preparedby the Ministry of Railwaysto carryforward the strategicshifts of tire organisationwhich include infrastracture upgradation, passenger experience, preferred

freight carrier, nan-fare revenue enhancement, zera fatdlity, mademisation by digitisatian ond cutting edge technology, organisational ulture, cost/ocus dnd sustoinabitity. To take these interventions forward, a transformation office cornprisinga multidisciplinary team has beenset up. r

Accounting Reform: To provide financial reports compatible with generaliy accepted acfounting principles and provide activity-based costing ts-'aid managerialdecision-rnaking, a Mission "Eeyond Book-keeping"for accounting reforms had been launched.lt is progressingsatisfactorilyand the accrualbased financialstatementsare targetedfor a rollout by March 2019.

o Regulation:Setting up of a Rail DeveloprnentAuthority has been approved for recommendingtariffs and servicelevel benchmarks.The regulatory authority is expected to restore the balance between passengerand freight tariffs and providea level playingfield to other stakeholders. Key performanceindicators will be a focusareato improveassetutilizationon lR.This is likely to be in place by August7017. e Joint ventures with State Governments:-Toenhance the commissioningacross the country, JVs have been set up by lR with State Governments of Andhra Pradesh,chattisgarh,Gujarat, Haryana,Jharkhand,Kerala, f\4aharashtra and odisha and about 48 projectsidentifiedfor developmentthrough this route of cc-operativefederalism.This measure r,'rillsubstantially enhance the dailv commissioning of railv.ray !ines. r

RailwaYsof India DevelopmentFund{R|DF}:_lndian Railwavs, in association with the world Bank,have undertakena scopingstudy for setting up the Raiiwaysof lndia DeveloprnentFund.R!DF,for financingprcjectsin the entire rail sectorby paolingfunCsfrom pensic:r,insuranceand wealthfunds. it is expeciedthat in the near future, the faciiitywill be set up which wili facilitateinvestments in ihe rail sector.

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costs,IndianRailwayshas launched of the objectiveof optirnizing ln pursuance Mission47KIor makingeffortstowaidssavingRs.41,000croreoverthe next 10 yearsthroughIntegratedRailEnergyManagementSystem.

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Keyresultareasidentifiedfor seniormanagement

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Largesteveronline recruitmentconducted

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of powersto functionallevels Delegation

* 100%e-procurement established * NewR&Dorganization beingsetup " NewRailUniversitycomingup at Vadodara :r;-tlai*cl,ijify

o Piiot plantsfor environrnentfriendlydisposalof Municipal Solid Waste including conversionof bio-degradablewaste to energyare being set up at New Delhi and JaipurRailwaystations. Processfor setting up five more such solid waste management plants has been

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takenup. r

and Two productionunitsand one workshophavebeen taken up for assessment certificationas Green Industrial Units. This is proposed to be extended to all productionunitsand majorworkshops.

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lndian Railwaysaspiresto feed about 7000 stationswith solar power in the next few years.As a part of this, about 300 stationshave alreadybeen providedwith Varanasi,Katraand solarplantsincluding500 KW plantsat Jaipur,Secunderabad, KolkataMetro. Further, it has been planned that for 20OOstations,the works shall be taken up this year as part of Railways'1000 Mega Watt iltJlVJ)solar mission.

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ln addition,lR wiil alsobe enhancingthe wind plants' capacityto a total of about 200 MW in next few years.

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By 2019, all coachesof lR will be fitted with bio-toilets.In 2g!5-t7,30,000 biotoiletphave been fitted.

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Indian Railwaysrvill alwaysremain grateful for your contribution.I am aware aboutsorneof the hardshipsthat our retired employeesface in their daily existence. Recently, we havetaken a few measuresto mitigateyour difficulties. o Introductionof electronicPensionpaymentorder {e-ppo)-At present,9 banks have created a capabilityin generatinge-ppos. This ensures timely generationof PPOsand commencementof pensionin the rnonth followingretirementas against2-3 monthsearlier. r Due to maintenance of pensioners'database in electronic form, rgvisions,etc can be worked out easilywith retrospectiveeffect I

A dedicatedpensioners'portal calledARPANhas been operaiinatiseO rvhichwill hoid legacypensionersdata and also act as a platforrnfor grievance redressal related to pension. For other grievancesof pensioners,another portal titled NIVARANhas also been activated yrherecornplaints can be registeredand tracked.

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Accessto timely medicalattention is also an area of concernfor our retired ennployees. We havetaken a nurnberof measuresto improvethe medicalservices. The vacancies of doctorshave been reducedtrom 37% to 30%. The remainingposts are being filled by ContractualMedicat Practitioners.

o The powers of GeneralManagershave been enhancedfor sanctioning medical reimbursementcases.Now, cases upto Rs, 10 lakh can be settledat the zonallevels. r

We havealso alloweddisbursement of mediclnesupto 6 monthsat one go in caseof e;.nployees travellingabi-aad.

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The General Managers have also been delegated powers for empaneimentoi all CGHS,ESl,etc. hospiialsfor avaiiingof treatrnentby retiredRailwayemployees.

o We havealsointroduceda cashless treatmentschemein caseof medical emergency.Presently, the schemeis limiied only to the four meirosbut would be extendedto other locations. I have aiso directedthe tvlember(Siaff)to be availableto meet the retired employeesand sort out any personalissuesthat they may have.

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C*ntinuaii*nSheet is strivingto imbibebestpracticesand takingall effortsin terms IndianRailways 6. to ensurea Railwaysystemthat everyIndiancanbe and policychanges of investments proudof. We are awarethat the journeyis difficultand we havea longhaulaneadbut we qill transformIndian we aredeterminedthat with yoursupportandencouragement Railwaysand make it the growth engineof the €conomy.In caseyou lrave any please for the irnprovement or bettermentof IndianRailways, or cornments suggestions gmail-ccm. emailthemto mvsuggestionsforraiir+avs€ 7.

My wishesto you andyourfamilyfor a veryhealthyand happylife. ?.

-'1si--''5 {SureshPrabhu}

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