Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday said that Narendra Modi government was working with speed, sensitivity and vision to transform the Railways and noted that no passenger had died in rail accident since April 1 last year due to constant focus on safety.
Replying to the marathon debate on demands for grants of his ministry, Goyal accused the Congress of the slow pace of work during its rule and said the Narendra Modi government has taken a 360-degree view of challenges and looked at problems from their root cause.
He told members from Kerala and West Bengal that projects were languishing due to lack of availability of land which was the responsibility of State governments.
The minister said 99 members had participated in the discussion that lasted over 11 hours and with his participation, the number of those who had taken part in the debate had touched 100. The House later passed the demands for grants of the ministry for 2020-21.
The minister said the investment had grown in the last five years and this year Rs 1.61 lakh crore have been allocated for capital expenditure in the Railways.
Goyal said rather than spending thin over a large number of projects which was the practice in the past, the Railways have identified 58 supercritical and 68 critical projects based on their important parameters such as easing congestion and boosting electrification.
"We have worked with focus due to which we have been able to get good outcomes," he said.
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He said while around 600 km tracks were electrified in 2013-14 during the rule of Congress-led UPA, the NDA government had electrified 5200 km against its target of 6,000 km in a year.
"If you had done it in your time, the Railways would not have suffered," he said.
He alleged that the UPA government had not cared to provide enough resources to provide pension to railway employees.
The minister said the pension fund requirement had grown from Rs 20,000 crore to Rs 50,000 crore to implementation of seventh pay commission recommendations and the NDA government moved in a calibrated manner so that common man was not burdened.
Showing a list of projects of different States, he said if the land is made available, the Railways will do the needful.
"States which help in land acquisition, the government is ready to implement them at a fast speed," he said.
The minister said the government has given priority to the Northeast and several projects have been undertaken to connect State capitals in the region.
Referring to work on linking Banihal to Baramulla, he said once the work is completed, it will result in connecting Kanyakumari to Baramulla.
"It will be one ticket, one country... The entire system will be connected," he said.
He said Railways was constructing the world's highest bridge on the Chenab river and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had provided for extra allocation for the same.
The minister defended the move to involve the private sector, saying that Railways needed vast capital and the government cannot provide the money unless it puts an extra burden on people.
The minister said passenger safety was a topmost priority for the government.
"In 2019-20, not one passenger has died in a rail accident," Goyal said.
Referring to Modern Coach Factory in Rae Bareli, which is the constituency of Congress President Sonia Gandhi, he said not one coach was built in the facility till later half of 2014 when the previous BJP-led government was in power.
The minister said that due to efforts of the Modi government, 1,000 coaches were built there in 2019-20 and it was going to create a record by manufacturing 2000 coaches in this fiscal.
"I cannot recall a government facility working to 200 per cent capacity," he said. He said the government was working to end unmanned railway crossings and most trains now have bio-toilets. He also said that the punctuality of trains has improved significantly.
Goyal said the employees had worked through the night and prepared answers to all the issues raised by members.
Referring to the demand of some Opposition members for a separate budget, he said it was a "balloon" and political declarations were made which remained unfulfilled for decades.
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