TV
Odisha is at the top of the priority list in PM Modi’s Purvodaya mission. Every year in the last three years, a budget of over Rs 10,000 crore has been sanctioned for Odisha, said Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during an exclusive interview with OTV.
“Work is going on very fast in Odisha. Be it new tracks, railway electrification or station construction, in every field work is going on. My dream project Gunupur-Therubali has been sanctioned. An investment of around Rs25,000 crore has been sanctioned,” he said.
Regarding the introduction of ‘kavach’ in Odisha, he said, “Modiji has given a target to install ‘kavach; system across the nation within six years. Odisha is coming under that. Work is going on at a fast pace”
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When asked about the future of the IT sector in Odisha, he said, “There is a huge potential in Odisha. Odia youths are doing well in IT sectors across the nation. We have sanctioned an electronic manufacturing cluster. Semiconductor training has also been started in Odisha. Efforts are being made to bring development to Odisha.”
"In the 100 days of Modiji’s third term, to develop infrastructure, various projects worth Rs 3 lakh crore have been taken up, several welfare programmes for farmers have been designed, three crore awas including two crore in rural and one crore in urban areas have been sanctioned. A decision has been taken to include senior citizens above 70 years in Ayushman Bharat. Many such big decisions have been taken so that every section of the society would benefit and develop,” he said.
When asked about the Opposition’s allegations about the rise in rail accidents, terrorism and atrocities against women, he said, “If it is compared, Modiji’s ten years and the Congress’ 58 years, there is a huge difference in the way of functioning. They only indulged in politics, favouritism and communal tensions. Do they have the locus standi to bring allegations?”
“In their time, 171 accidents a year were happening. This has now been reduced to 40 in the last year. We are inspecting every incident going to the deep to ascertain the root cause and taking steps accordingly. So far, 97000 inspections have been carried out, 90,000 signal plans verified, 2,500 tracks renewed, ultrasound tests carried on 1,86,000 kilometers tracks, 20 new phased ultrasound machines have been introduced, 990 bridges rehabilitated, 5,300 fog safety devices installed, tender floated for installing ‘kavach’ on 9,600 tarcks, tender for ‘kavach’ installation on 10,000 locomotives, 632 kilometers ‘kavach’ commissioned and ‘kavach 4.O commissioned on Kota and Sawai Madhopur,” he said.
“Within this 100 days, 12 new lines worth Rs 50,000 crore have been sanctioned, 16 new Vande Bharat trains, 12500 general coaches sanctioned, Namo Bharat Rapid Rail introduced, Vande Bharat sleeper completed and will for testing, world’s highest railway bridge Chenab rail bridge commissioned,” he said.
“Balasore railway mishap has been ascribed to panel manipulation. To do away with the problem, we have introduced panelless tracks in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh,” he added.
