Never used railways for political gains: Narendra Modi
By Express News Service | Published: 18th November 2016 08:39 PM |
Last Updated: 18th November 2016 08:39 PM | A+A A- |
NEW DELHI: Recalling that his childhood was spent on rail platforms, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his link with the Railways is strong and that is why he never used it for political gains. He emphasized that the government run transporter should change with changing times and adopt new technology and speed.
Addressing railway men at the start of 3-day Rail Vikas Shivir Friday, Modi said that focus of NDA government’s rail budgets has never been political gains.
"Earlier, the rail budget was all about announcements related to trains, new tracks and compartments. When I took over, I found that about 1500 announcements made in the budget earlier were only for clapping," he said.
Asserting that transformation of railways has been his agenda, Prime Minister said that he could have done the same thing but he took a bold decision and decided to do away with announcements for political gains.
"I remained free from the love for political gains. I showed courage. Our focus is to develop railways and make it financially strong. This benefits India and particularly those working for the Railways," Modi, adding he will personally meet around 700 participants Sunday on the final day of the conference.
The government has decided to scrap the 92-year-old practice of presenting a separate budget and there will be no rail budget in 2017.
Asking railway officials to work as a team, Modi said every official doing their own work is good but we also have to work together and think about how we want the Railways in future.
“This is a technology-driven century. Innovation is essential. Railways have to be about both 'Gati' and 'Pragati',” he added.
The shivir is being organized to generate innovative yet practical ideas across most critical areas of Railway Operations for the substantial progress of this sector.