The Big investments for the turnaround of the “bleeding” and “sinking” railways is essential

Turnaround in five years: Suresh Prabhu

New Delhi: Railway minister Suresh Prabhu dedicated the Rail Budget to the “aam aadmi,” saying that there would be a turnaround of the railways in the next five years. The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the demand of grants for the Railways.

“The Rail Budget has kept the aam aadmi in its focus. We seek top carry more passengers by augmenting the capacity, while enhancing the passenger amenities,” Mr Prabhu said, while replying to discussion on the demand for the grants. The minister also said that his ministry seeks to involve states in execution of projects. He said that the big investments for the turnaround of the “bleeding” and “sinking” railways is essential and there is no threat of it getting into debt trap. He stated that his ministry is working on a five-year action plan for execution of projects so that these are “not forgotten”. “The railways has not been able to meet the regional aspirations due to lack of funds. But this budget has tried to address it,” said Mr Prabhu, while adding that the railways proposes to join hands with states to execute rail projects to fulfill regional aspirations. Many states have already written to him and MoUs would be signed soon, he added.

“Cooperative federalism is the central theme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. There is no better endeavour than railways to end regional disparity. It will create jobs. All of us have joint responsibility as it is a national issue,” he added.