Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on Monday said that the government is giving top priority to safety in railways. Railways is spending Rs 1.14 lakh crore per annum on safety.
Responding to the discussion on the Railway Amendment Bill 2024 in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that the annual rail accident rate has come down from 171 incidents to 30. The Railway Amendment Bill 2024 was approved by voice vote in the Rajya Sabha. The bill was passed in the Lok Sabha on December 11 last year. The Railway Amendment Bill, 2024 provides for increasing the independence of the Railway Board and improving its functioning.
Response to Railway Amendment Bill
The Railway Minister said, 'In the UPA government, the investment for increasing safety used to be between Rs 8 thousand to 10 thousand crore. Today we are investing more than Rs 1.14 lakh crore every year on increasing safety. He said that steps have been taken to improve tracks, safety equipment and level crossings.'
He said that 4.11 lakh jobs were given during the UPA tenure, and 5.02 lakh jobs were given in the NDA government. He said, now the general managers have 100 percent authority to accept the contract, whether the tender amount is Rs 10 crore or Rs 1,000 crore. General managers have also been given the right to approve projects less than Rs 50 crore. Vaishnav rejected the opposition's apprehension that the Railway Amendment Bill would reduce the power of state governments.
Advised the opposition not to do politics
The Railway Minister advised not to do politics on rail accidents like the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station during Kumbh, saying that the Railway Ministry has taken several measures learning from this incident, which includes creating waiting areas to control the crowd at major stations of the country.
Vaishnav said that the matter is under investigation. It is worth mentioning that on February 15, 18 people died in a stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. Opposition members accused the government of trying to take control of the Railway Board through the Railway Amendment Bill, 2024, and said it was avoiding scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.
Congress member Vivek K. Tankha alleged that the independence of the Railway Board has ended under the proposed law. He demanded autonomy for the Railway Board. Trinamool Congress's Prakash Baraik said the bill should be sent to a select committee of Parliament.
IND vs AUS: Is Rohit Sharma's ODI record in danger? Former Australian captain claims
Former Australia captain Aaron Finch caused a stir on social media when he revealed which cricket
Bollywood couple Akshay Kumar and Twinkle Khanna reached Lord's to watch the fifth day of the thi
CBI raids AAP leader Durgesh Pathak's house, Atishi says- We are not afraid of BJP's threats
The CBI team raided the house of Aam Aadmi Party leader and Gujarat co-in-charge Durgesh Pathak o
Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening and headed straight to Prim
The cricket team of neighboring Pakistan, which had been groaning over the Indian Army's Operatio
A day after Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar publicly criticized the Supreme Court for setting a t
The third match of the five-match Test series between India and England will be played at Lord's
Coronavirus is once again spreading rapidly in the country. Active cases of Covid 19 in the count
After the acquittal of the accused in the Malegaon bomb blasts, the then-investigating officers h
The troubles of stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra, who is in trouble for making controversial stateme
