PMO Suggests 24 Steps To Transform Railways

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suggested 24 steps for an action plan to renovate the railways.

The measures include asking the ministries of food and railways to chalk out the total nine-month food requirement of the Northeast states and formulate a way to transport the whole stock in one go. The other steps are Wi-Fi connectivity on all passenger trains in three months and ‘scrap-free railways’ by June 30 next year.

The railways have been asked to find out an area where world-class technology can be deployed.

The action points are a mix of macro- and micro-level objectives. What is evident in all action points is Modi’s concept of getting departments and ministries to work in tandem with common objectives. The Urban Development Ministry and the railways have been asked to connect all major airports with the metro rail.

One of the action points is to connect all the underdeveloped areas with the developed areas. Leveraging the UPA’s flagship MGNREGA, the Prime Minister’s Office wants the project to be linked with the laying of tracks and other works in the railways.