Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Pralhad Joshi has said that Indian Railways has seen unprecedented growth under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as never before was such a large number of railway projects launched at one go.
He was addressing a gathering at Annigeri in Dharwad district, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid foundation stone for redevelopment of 554 railway stations under Amrit Bharat Station scheme, laid foundation stone and dedicated 1,500 road overbridges and road underbridges through video conferencing on Monday.
Mr. Joshi said that it is unimaginable that projects worth ₹41,000 crore are being initiated at one ago. Earlier, getting funds for three-four ROBs or RUBs itself was a great achievement, he said and added that in Dharwad district alone, two projects worth over ₹100 crore has been launched by the Prime Minister.
Elaborating on the progress achieved in the last one decade in railway infrastructure development, Mr. Joshi said that prior to 2014, the country had completed 21,413 km of track electrification and in the last one decade, 39,000 km of track electrification has been achieved. The country now has 70,000 km of railway network and manned level crossings are being eliminated on a mission mode, he said.
Referring to Kalasa Banduri Nala project, he said that he is being targeted for no reason although it is under the BJP rule that the project gained momentum, gazette notification was published, funds were allocated and DPR was cleared.
Mr. Joshi said that it is wrong to say that environmental clearance has been rejected for the project, as the authorities have only sought further clarifications on the issue. He said that the State Wildlife Board has to clear the project and there are a few issues pertaining to the tiger corridor.
He said he has already spoken to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar on the issue about what is required to be done from the State government. The Union Minister also announced that he is committed to getting clearance for the project from the Centre.
Member of Legislator Assembly Mahesh Tenginakai, South Western Railway General Manager Sanjeev Kishore and others were present.
‘Democracy strengthened’
Later, speaking to presspersons, Mr. Joshi rubbished reports about Prime Minister Narendra becoming a dictator. “Mr. Modi’s personality has not changed. He is still the same person. He will become the Prime Minister for the third time, but will never develop dictatorship mentality,” he said.
He said that they did not have to learn from the Congress, which dismissed 94 State governments and whose leader imposed Emergency on the country. In fact, under Mr. Modi, democracy has further strengthened, he said.
