'The government must understand that the Indian Railways is like a Kamdhenu cow. It can look after your GDP, it can look after the health of the nation. But the Kamdhenu cow also needs nourishment.' 'You have not at all looked after the Indian Railways, you have ill treated the Indian Railways, you have mistreated the Indian Railways and you have given the Indian Railways step motherly treatment.' 'I don't think this government has understood the Indian Railways.'
In the wake of the growing funding constraint for additional infrastructure creation in the railway sector, Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday held discussions with the industry on options to make private participation in the sector attractive. "Addressing the coordination gaps between the rail ministry and the industry is important to increase investments in rail projects. This is very urgent," Banerjee said.
The railway minister's indifference to her portfolio, the hesitation to install anti-collision devices that cost Rs 250,000 per km and the debate over the efficiency of home-grown technology are leading to more accidents.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention on Wednesday in the alleged "whimsical" functioning of the railways in sending Shramik Special trains to West Bengal and urged the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre not to pursue politics when the state is battling a dual crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic and trail of destruction left behind by Cyclone Amphan.
Dinesh Trivedi, late on Wednesday night, sent his resignation letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, according to television reports. Mukul Roy, minister of state for shipping, who had earlier served in the railway ministry, is expected to take over. The government is also expected to announce a rollback on hike in rail fares.
The Commonwealth Express comprising 11 coaches will leave for Amritsar to coincide with the arrival of Queen's Baton in the country from Pakistan on June 25.
According to railway ministry sources, Banerjee is in a hurry to start the train services she had announced in her Budget in July last year.
A trained pilot, Dinesh Trivedi has a challenging task ahead in putting the Railways on track after his boss and Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee often came under attack for alleged neglect of this key ministry hit by train accidents in the recent days.
"Railways has received a request from the government of West Bengal to set up a coach factory in Singur," Banerjee said while presenting the rail budget for 2010-11 in Parliament.
Presenting the Railway Budget on Friday in the Parliament, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee proposed an outlay of Rs 40,745 crore for 2009-2010, which is 2,840 crore more than the allocation proposed in the interim budget.
Mamata Banerjee was on Friday sworn in as the chief minister of West Bengal for the second consecutive time, heading a 42-member ministry.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled central government alleging that there were attempts to suppress the cause of the train accident in Odisha.
Sudheendhra Kulkarni, former political aide to senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, has joined a key committee of the Railway Ministry. Kulkarni, who dissociated himself from the BJP on Saturday citing ideological differences, on Wednesday, said that he had joined a committee appointed by Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The train is expected to take 28 hours to complete its journey, about 20 minutes less than the time taken by Chennai Rajdhani.
Talking to reporters at the accident site, he said the issue is of electric point machine, a vital device for railway signalling, and electronic interlocking.
Justice (retd) G T Nanavati, who gave a clean chit to Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in the Godhra train carnage, on Friday refused to be drawn into a controversy over comparisons of his report with that of the Banerjee Commission set up by the Railway Ministry.
"Call it a craze, fever or national interest but HSR is our window to the outside world."
According to the latest Budget papers, the staff strength of central ministries and departments is estimated to rise by 276,796 to 3.44 million at the end of FY23, it would be up by 109,266 to 3.55 million in March 2024.
Announcing the resignation of Dinesh Trivedi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he regretted the departure of the railway minister who had presented a budget which promised the "vision" outlined by his predecessor Mamata Banerjee.
Railway Budget has not discriminated against any state.
'The more you challenge her, the more powerful she gets'
Trinamool Congress's slogan of 'Satatar Pratik' (symbol of honesty) has been challenged by BJP's slogan, 'Gali, gali mein shor hai, Mamata Banerjee chor hai'.
Noted economist and senior Trinamool Congress leader Amit Mitra is likely to step down as the West Bengal finance minister and even retire from active politics due to ill health, party sources said on Sunday.
Former Trinamool Congress MP Dinesh Trivedi joined the Bharatiya Janata Party on Saturday, weeks after he announced quitting his Rajya Sabha membership on the floor of the House deploring 'violence' in poll-bound West Bengal.
Road and rail traffic was partially affected in some regions on Monday during a 'Bharat bandh' called against the Agnipath military recruitment scheme, while protests appeared to taper off in many states, with authorities stepping up security and imposing curbs after days of unrest.
Inviting private sector in Indian Railways is a good idea.
Construction of more underpasses besides road overbridges, dedicated passenger corridors are also on the anvil, the railway minister said.
Some say it is time to decongest the existing line infrastructure and cater to the supply shortage of rolling stock to meet the demand for bulk commodities such as coal, cement and foodgrains.
Dubey demanded the removal of Tharoor, alleging that he was using his position in a discriminatory manner.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today ordered a departmental inquiry into the cancellation of stoppage of some trains at a station in Bihar, which sparked violent protests, and said halting of trains there will continue like in the past.
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2010-11 in Parliament, the minister said there are 14 lakh (1.4 million) employees of Indian Railways -- from officers to gangmen and the scheme will benefit all of them.
"The Rail Budget is likely to be presented on July 8. The ministry is preparing a status report to be presented before the Railway Minister. The report is to be submitted in a day or two and after that the budget outline will be drawn by the minister," a senior ministry official said.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has ordered removal of chairmen of all Railway Recruitment Boards across the country, appointed during the tenure of Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad.
Trinamool politics set to trump prudence on passenger fares.
The meeting is a prelude to the framing of a public private partnership policy for the railways.
Bowing to pressure, the finance ministry may give industry relief from some of the new levies proposed in the Budget.
In Jammu & Kashmir, the minister proposed to set up a bridge factory.
Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the Gyaneshwari Express disaster in West Midnapore and said the Centre has agreed for a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the mishap. "From the railways, we have requested the Union home ministry for a CBI investigation into the incident, since it was in Jangalmahal where the joint operation (against Maoists) is on."
The heritage Darjeeling Himalayan Railways will resume the toy train services from December from Siliguri.
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