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.
Every day, there is some ruckus in TV's popular reality show Bigg Boss 19. Now, a new promo of th
The Luthra brothers, the main accused in the Goa nightclub fire, have been detained in Thailand,
Slow wind speeds and adverse weather conditions have turned Delhi into a gas chamber. For the thi
In the glamorous film industry, stars do not have any fixed time for shooting. Some have to shoot
The Election Commission of India, which is busy preparing for the Bihar assembly elections, is on
Former CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda reached his house on Sunday after his mother Savita revealed that
Ahead of the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu next year, actor-turned-politician Vijay Thalapathy
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has arrived in Karnataka on his one-day visit. Jagadguru Sri Sri Sug
Dilip Kumar was known as the tragedy king of Hindi cinema. Dilip sahab, who ruled the film indust
The Waqf Amendment Bill has been approved by the Parliament. After the Lok Sabha, the Waqf Amendm
