Punjab gets Rs.5,147 Cr in Railway budget, major focus on safety and infrastructure
Punjab gets Rs.5,147 Cr in Railway budget, major focus on safety and infrastructure
Ferozepur, July 2024: In a recent video conference, Union Minister for Railways, Ashwini Vaishnav, outlined the new railway budget, prioritizing safety, comfort, infrastructure development, and capacity enhancement for passengers. Punjab has been allocated Rs.51,47 Cr in the current budget allocation with a special focus on safety and infrastructure.
Paramdeep Singh Saini, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager of Northern Railway, Ferozepur Division, shared additional insights, revealing a record allocation of Rs. 2,62,200 crore for Indian Railways, including Rs. 5,147 crore specifically for Punjab. In the year 2014, this budget used to be 35,000 Crore Rupees.
Divulging with the details, later on, Paramdeep Singh Saini, Sr.DCM, Northern Railway, Ferozepur Division said, a record allocation of Rs.2,62,200 Cr has been made for Indian Railways. Out of this, Rs.5147 Cr has been allocated to the state of Punjab.
Saini highlighted that this budget marks a substantial increase from Rs. 35,000 crore in 2014. In Punjab, projects worth Rs. 19,843 crore are currently underway, with 30 stations being upgraded under the Amrit Bharat Development Scheme. Additionally, since 2014, 366 flyovers and underpasses have been constructed, signalling a rapid pace of development.
He said that during the UPA government, ten years back, only Rs.225 cr used to be allocated and now it has been increased to 23 times. In Punjab, Rs.19843 Cr projects are going on in Punjab and 30 stations have come under Amrit Bharat Development Scheme where the work is going on rapidly. After 2014, 366 Flyovers and underpasses were constructed. This is a transformative change and work is going on more speedily.
On asking about the safety of passengers, Sr.DCS further said that everyone’s life is precious and safety has been given priority in the current budget as safety is the main priority of Indian Railways and out of the total allocated budget, Rs.1,08,795 Cr will be utilised for safety-related expenses in Indian Railways. There has been a lot of improvement during the last 10 years and there is an 85 per cent drop in rail fractures and a 60 per cent reduction in rail accidents. There will be further improvement with the new budget allocation, on safety measures.
He said Kavach will be a major part of the safety budget allocation. Kavach 4.0 has been approved recently which is going to be a breakthrough in the upcoming time. Networks of the country will be diversified with Kavach Technology. Rapid installation of Kavach technology will take place.
This meets all the requirements in India and further, roll out has been sanctioned for 10000 locations, which will be rolled out as soon as possible and this has been done in a record time. The certification of Safety Integrity Level 4 (SIL-4)which was received in 2019, with the highest safety standards, after starting in 2016, and now it is in the advanced stage and it will be rolled out soon. Unlike developed country Germany, where it took 20 years to roll it out, in India the work of safety is increasing at such a fast pace, he added.
