Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu on Tuesday reiterated that railways will not be privatized and the ownership of it will always remain with the government.
Addressing the conference of General Managers of all Zonal Railways and Production Units here, Prabhu said that we need funds to invest in various pending projects and future projects.
"Vigorous efforts are being made to mobilize investments in Railways Sector. Capacity augmentations is another important area which needs attention as we have to decongest highly dense traffic routes through double line, triple line or more lines, besides creating new railway connectivity," he said.
Prabhu said that railways will also have to modernize its rolling stocks, signalling system, safety operations etc. He pointed out that he has already initiated the process of delegating powers to field functionaries like General Managers, Divisional Railways Managers and Station Managers but with that comes responsibilities also on the field functionaries to deliver.
Referring to the cleanliness, Prabhu said that an integrated approach is required to address this important aspect of passenger amenities.
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He said that mechanized laundries have improved quality of linen supplied in the trains and we have to set up more such laundries to cover the entire railway network.
The Railways Minister also pointed out that sustained efforts also need to be made to improve quality of food being served at railway stations and in trains and for this, base kitchen with quality monitoring should be set up.
He also called upon General Managers to complete energy audit ordered by him earlier so that we can conserve and optimize energy consumptions in railways.
"Similarly, we need to do water audit for its optimum utilization," he added.
Expressing his concern for the unfortunate and tragic accidents at unmanned level crossings, Prabhu said that General Managers should think of new and innovative methods to reduce such accidents and make railway operations safer.
In this connection, the Railways Minister informed that ISRO is helping Indian Railways using Geospatial Technologies.
Prabhu also said that he has written letters to Members of Parliament requesting them to use MPLAD funds for railway works for the benefit of the passengers.
He also called upon the General Managers to pay due attention to the requests made by the elected representatives on behalf of public.
"There is a need to save precious railway land from unauthorized encroachment and at the same time take measures to recover encroached land," he added.
Prabhu said that he is newest member in this vast railway family and he is proud of railway personnel for their dedication, sincerity and ability to deliver.
He called upon the railway unions and railway administration to work together for the betterment of Indian railways and the nation.
Prabhu further said that there are several expectations from various stake holders of Indian Railways and called upon General Managers to live up to those expectations. He pointed out that there is a need to benchmark our performance so that our full potential is utilized to deliver the best services to the people.
Prabhu said that he is bringing out a white paper which will provide the vision and help formulate the road map to take Railways forward.
The conference was attended by all Railway Board Members, the General Managers of Zonal Railways and Production Units and National Representatives of the Railway Employees Unions.
