New Delhi:

The Narendra Modi government has set an aggressive target for implementing the Kavach train protection system across the rail network in the next five to six years, Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told NDTV as Modi 3.0 completed 100 days.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, Mr Vaishnaw said the Prime Minister took historic initiatives in the first and second terms and set the foundation for India to become a developed country by 2047.

“During the election process, Prime Minister Modi called all the bureaucrats and told them that the country’s progress should not stop. He told the officials that we would be busy with elections, but they should keep planning. Because of this vision, we have been able to announce many new programmes and start new work in 100 days,” he said.

100-Day Report Card

Elaborating on how his ministry has performed in the first 100 days of Modi 3.0, Mr Vaishnaw said Railways has started 12 new projects with an investment of Rs 50,000 crore.

The Railways Minister said the government is focusing on improving the travel experience of lower-income and middle-income groups. He said they are adding general coaches that cater to lower-income groups. “108 trains have been augmented with new general coaches and 12,500 new general coaches are being manufactured,” he said.

Referring to the NaMo Bharat Rapid Rail service, the first of which was inaugurated between Ahmedabad and Bhuj yesterday, the minister said, “This is going to be revolutionary because, at a very low cost, a very high-quality service will be provided to commuters travelling from one city to another.”

On the Railways’ infrastructure push, the minister said the world’s highest rail arch bridge, Chenab Bridge, has been commissioned, 900 km of new tracks commissioned, and 100 digital stations and 309 locomotives are in the works,” he said.

Mr Vaishnaw said the Railways has introduced a direct drive technology based on the lessons learned from the Balasore accident that left nearly 300 people dead. “In the Balasore accident, there was manipulation in the electrical panel that controls point machines, so we decided to change the entire technology. The first direct drive technology has now been introduced,” he said.

The minister also said that 58,642 vacancies have been notified for recruitment in Railways.

The Railways, he said, was neglected throughout the Congress rule. “It was considered a political tool, not a department which can bring about a big change in people’s lives. That is the change which has happened during PM Modi’s tenure,” he said.

Meeting High Demand

The demand for rail travel is increasing every day and the government is bringing about a massive augmentation of its infrastructure to meet this demand, Ms Vaishnaw said. “The manufacturing of trains has significantly increased if you compare it with the UPA period. We are now manufacturing close to 6,000 coaches a year. During UPA, it was 2000-3000, close to 1200 locomotives are now being manufactured, compared to 200-300 a year during UPA. Massive change has happened,” he said.

With the festive season round the corner, the Railways has decided to deploy a record number of special trains to tackle the rush, he said.

“For people from low-income groups, we have introduced Amrit Bharat trains with the same features as Vande Bharat,” he said, adding that two such trains were launched in January and one will be launched every week from October onwards.

Vande Bharat vs Other Trains

Counting the charge that the Narendra Modi government is promoting Vande Bharat trains at the cost of other trains, the minister said, “Other trains are absolutely (getting) much higher focus compared to Vande Bharat. It’s just that Vande Bharat is catching the imagination of the people. That’s why there is so much excitement.”

“But we as Railways are very much focused on making sure that the lowest income categories of the society get very affordable rail travel,” the minister said.

He said 16 new Vande Bharat trains had been launched in the 10 days of Modi 3.0 and the first 20-coach Vande Bharat has been rolled out. Vande Bharat sleeper trains are going for testing and trials, he said.

“Huge Focus On Safety”

The Opposition has repeatedly criticised Mr Vaishnaw over the Railways’ safety record and train derailments. Responding to a question on how the national transporter plans to tackle safety issues, the minister replied, “We have made sure that each and every incident that happens in Railways, whether it is an accident or other incident, we go to the root cause. Wherever systemic changes have to be made, we make them, wherever procedural improvements have to be done, we do that, and where technology has to be changed, we are changing that.”

“We have done 97,000 inspections, verified 90,000 signal plans, 2,500 km of tracks (have been) renewed. Ultrasound testing is being done for the entire railway network. This fiscal, 1,86,000 km of tracks have been checked with ultrasound machines,” he said, stressing a “huge focus on safety”.

On the Centre’s much-touted Kavach train protection system, he said, “What the Congress governments could not do in 58 years, within a short time-frame of 10 years, we got this new technology developed, tested and the deployment started. The first tender was done in 2022, out of that 632 km is already commissioned.”

Version 4 of Kavach was approved on July 16, he said, adding the government has put out tenders for 10,000 locomotives and 9,600 km of train trains. “I am very happy to share that yesterday, the first section with Kavach 4.0 got commissioned between Kota and Sawai Madhopur,” he said, adding that with the system in place, the driver can see the signal from several kilometres away.

Asked about a timeline for this system being implemented across the Railway network, the minister said, “The countries which have half or less than half of our network size took about 15.20 years. But our Prime Minister has given us a very aggressive target. We would like to cover the whole network within 5-6 years.”

New Delhi:

The government has approved projects worth Rs 15 lakh crore since returning to power this July, pointed out Union Minister Amit Shah today as he released a report card for the first 100 days of the Modi government’s third term.

Out of this, the government has earmarked Rs 3 lakh crore for infrastructure development. This includes linking about 25,000 villages to road networks at a cost of Rs 49,000 crore. The centre has also decided to expand major roads across the country at a cost of Rs 50,600 crore, the minister said at a press conference.

“A mega port will be built in Wadhwan, Maharashtra at a cost of Rs 76,000 crore, which will be included among the top 10 ports of the world from Day 1,” said the Home Minister.

Mr Shah also highlighted that the government has launched the PM eBus Sewa scheme, removed 31% tax burden via angel tax abolition for startups, and marked 12 industrial zones across India for development.

Speaking about cybersecurity, the minister said 5,000 cyber commandos will be deployed over the next five years to tackle cybercrime.

The Union Home Minister said a PM package of Rs 2 lakh crore has also been announced for the youth. “4.10 crore youth will benefit from this in five years. Our government has also decided to provide internship opportunities in top companies along with allowances and one-time assistance to one crore youth,” he added.

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Mr Shah the middle class has also been given a lot of relief in these 100 days. “Now there is no tax on income up to Rs 7 lakh. The third edition of OROP (one rank one pension) has been implemented. 3 crore houses have been sanctioned under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, out of which 1 crore houses will be built in urban areas and 2 crore houses in rural areas,” said the Union Minister.

He also highlighted the initiatives taken to enhance the air and metro connectivity.

“To promote tourism, we are upgrading the Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport in Varanasi, Bagdogra in West Bengal, Bihta Airport in Bihar. We are also building new airstrips at Agatti and Minicoy. We have also taken up the projects of Bengaluru Metro, Pune Metro, Thane Integrated Ring Metro and many other metros in these 100 days,” said Mr Shah.

In the agriculture sector, he said the government has distributed Rs 20,000 crore to 9.5 crore farmers in the 17th instalment of PM Kisan Samman Yojana. “So far, Rs 3 lakh crore has been distributed to 12.33 crore farmers,” said the Union Minister.

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The government will also set up a semiconductor unit in Sanand, Gujarat at a cost of Rs 3,300 crore. The unit will have a production capacity of six million chips per day.

“In the next 10 years, India will become a major player in semiconductors,” asserted the Home Minister.

Other initiatives taken during the first 100 days include eight new railway line projects that will make travel more convenient. The projects will also generate 4.42 crore human-days of employment.

The ‘PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana’ has helped over 2.5 lakh home install solar energy systems between June and August 2024.