Ashwini Vaishnaw Rejects Opposition's Claim Saying 'Railways Not For Poor'

<p>New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Tuesday hit out at opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha for creating a "false narrative" that Railways was no more for the poor and asserted that 70 per cent of all rail coaches were general.</p> <p>Vaishnaw also said that Amrut Bharat trains were providing efficient, modern and safe travel to passengers at very low fares.</p> <p>He said while opposition members questioned Vande Bharat trains, they have been demanding running these trains in their constituencies.</p> <p>Referring to rail safety, he said the rail accidents have been reduced by 90 per cent and asserted that a lot of investment has gone into making train travel safe.</p> <p>Vaishnaw was responding to a debate on demands for grants for the Railway Ministry. The House later approved demands for grants for the ministry for 2026-27.</p> <p>Opposition's cut motions were rejected by a voice vote.</p> <p>Vaishnaw also used the opportunity to target governments in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu and Kerala claiming that they were either not providing lands or not clearing projects for railways.</p> <p>West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala are going to polls next month.</p> <p>Vaishnaw claimed that an earlier technology to prevent rail collisions was found to be ineffective, still the then railway minister Mamata Banerjee implemented it.</p> <p>He said the new Kavach technology is not only a device but a complex system which is akin to installing telecom network.</p> <p>Vaishnaw said the latest version of Kavach technology is being implemented and is of international standards. He noted that the work on bullet trains is also going smoothly.</p> <p>On the issue of jobs, he said five lakh jobs have been given in railways and nearly two lakh more are being provided.</p> <p>Responding to the debate, he also said that the Railways has saved Rs 6,000 crore by shifting from diesel to electric energy to run trains.</p> <p>He said that the national transporter has become the second largest cargo carrier in the world.</p> <p>Vaishnaw said that during the tenure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government, 35,000 km of railway track has been laid while 27,000 km has been electrified.</p> <p>He said staff cost is the biggest expenditure of the Railways, followed by energy cost.</p> <p>He noted that in coming times diesel locomotives will fade away making way for electric locomotives.</p> <p>Vaishnaw said since the Modi government came to power in 2014, politics of performance has taken over from politics of vote.</p> <p>He said that in a visionary decision, PM Modi had decided to merge the railway budget with the general budget which has led to increase in financial allocation for his ministry.</p> <p>Now, new trains are inaugurated and new projects launched throughout the year, which was not the case earlier. Railways' financial health has increased and so has transparency in publishing accounts, he said.</p> <p>Vaishnaw noted that the Finance Ministry and other agencies keep a tab on monetary health using IT systems.</p> <p>As many as 210 MPs participated in the debate which lasted two days.&nbsp;</p> <p><em><strong>(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)</strong></em></p>

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