Describing Indian Railway as a victim of political selfishness of governments after Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his government’s emphasis is to make railways a medium for Aatmanirbhar Bharat and Vocal for Local and with this intention the Railway Budget was included in in the General Budget to make it possible to provide it more resource for expenditure.
Modi on Tuesday listed initiatives like a six-fold budget increase from 2014 and assured the countrymen that in the next five years, the transformation of railways will exceed their imagination. “Transformation of the railway is the guarantee of Viksit Bharat,” he said.
“Our government has displayed the willpower to bring the railways out of those hellish conditions. Now Railways development is among the top priorities of the government,” the Prime Minister said, listing initiatives like a six-fold budget increase from 2014 and assuring the countrymen that in the next 5 years, the transformation of railways will exceed their imagination. “This 10 year’s work is just a trailer. I have a long way to go”, he added.
Modi was speaking at an event where he dedicated to the nation and laid the foundation stone of various developmental projects worth over Rs 1,06,000 crores at Dedicated Freight Corridor’s Operation Control Centre in Ahmedabad, Gujarat.. The development projects encompass multiple sectors including railway infrastructure, connectivity and petrochemicals. He also flagged off 10 new Vande Bharat trains.
The Prime Minister underlined that development works for the creation of Viksit Bharat are continuously expanding with the inauguration and laying the foundation stone of multiple development projects across the country. “In the 75 days of 2024, projects worth more than Rs 11 lakh crores have been inaugurated or foundation stones laid while projects worth Rs 7 lakh crores have been unveiled in the last 10-12 days”, he said.
“Our future generations should not face the struggles which were faced by us. In our 10 years, we have also created eastern and western dedicated freight corridors. This demand was delayed by Congress for decades… Freight corridors are working as a catalyst for the creation of industrial corridors” PM Modi added.
“The network of Vande Bharat trains has reached over 250 districts. The government is consistently expanding the route of Vande Bharat trains… We are working towards 100% electrification of railways.
We are also planning for railway stations to run on electricity generated by using solar power. We are establishing Jan Aushadhi Kendras in railway stations. These reforms will create an ecosystem for ‘Made in India’ in railways” the PM said.
“Indian Railways will continue to move ahead at the pace of modernity. This is Modi’s guarantee,” he said, calling upon the citizens for their cooperation to continue this celebration of development.
“Post-independence, the governments prioritised political gains over social welfare which impacted the railway sector the most. Ten years ago, the capitals of 6 northeastern states lacked railway stations. Our government has completely transformed the landscape of the railway sector. Prioritising the sector, we increased the average railway budget 6 times as compared to the budget before 2014” the PM said.
He also flagged off ten new Vande Bharat trains between Ahmedabad-Mumbai Central, Secunderabad-Visakhapatnam, Mysuru- Dr MGR Central (Chennai), Patna- Lucknow, New Jalpaiguri-Patna, Puri-Visakhapatnam, Lucknow – Dehradun, Kalaburagi – Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal Bengaluru, Ranchi-Varanasi, Khajuraho- Delhi (Nizamuddin).