On Friday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, through video conferencing, addressed the railway employees who are attending the Rail Vikas Shivir (rail development camp) which is taking place at Surajkund. He said that the focus of Indian Railways should also be on “new speeds, progress and new capacity” along with increasing the revenues.
PM Modi emphasized on the need of transforming Indian Railways with the change of the century. He also talked about the abolition of 92 yrs old practice of presenting Railway Budget annually. He said that he never wanted to use the Railway Budget as his “political agenda” and that is why, he kept himself “free from the love for political gains (from railways)”. PM will visit the camp on Sunday, the last day of the event.
The Prime Minister also talked about his early days which he spent at the railway stations, selling tea. He also says that due to this connection, he has seen railways from very close and has a special love for it.
In the words of PM Modi,
“My relation with the railways is old. I have spent a lot of time on platforms. I have seen the railways from closer quarters from my childhood days. I have affection for railways since my childhood days and understand how big impact a change in the railways will bring.”
And because of this special love, he always stays at the Railway Guest House in Varanasi. He said,
“As the Prime Minister, I can stay somewhere else but I prefer the Railway Guest House as it gives a feel of belonging.”
Varanasi is the Lok Sabha constituency of PM Modi. He also stated,
“The century has changed, so the railways should also change. There should be new speed, progress and new capacity.”
PM pressurized on the need of innovation as everything is now based on technology. His words hold more importance in relation to the introduction of high speed trains in India. Japan’s bullet trains are considered to be the best when it comes to high-speed trains. Presently India is getting the technology and financial help from Japan for running bullet trains in the near future. The work of making the first high speed corridor of India, which will be between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, will commence from 2018.
PM showed his confidence in the employees of Indian Railways and also asked them to work together which is very necessary for its growth. He also insisted on creating a family atmosphere within the railways so that everyone could give opinions on important matters.
PM alleged that the railway budgets used to be a practice of making sure that every MP gets happy and then no work was done in reality on those announcements. He said,
“There used to clapping on such announcements (in Parliament). When I took over, I noticed that 1500 announcements (regarding railways) had been made previously which had remained confined only to clapping.”
He further added,
“I could have done the same thing and collected claps and praise. But I remained free from the love for political gains. I showed courage.”
One point that needs to be noted is that in the last two years, there has been no announcement of any new train in the railway budgets.
The growth of Indian Railways is not just needed for its own bright future but also for the bright future of the country as it is the lifeline of a common man.
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