PM flags off 900th coach, Ham Safar train rake, slams Cong for ignoring Raebareli

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday flagged off the 900th coach and rake of Ham Safar train made by the Modern Coach Factory and asserted that his government's goal is to make the factory the world's biggest.

Prime Minister Modi is on his first trip to Raebareli, a traditional seat of the Gandhi family.

"The previous government of the Congress wasted the resources. The Modern Coach Factory is a proof of exploitation of the nation's resources done during the previous government. We changed it after we came to power," said the Prime Minister while addressing a public rally.

"This factory was sanctioned in 2007 and was built in 2010. For the past four years, parts of the coach from Kapurthala were assembled and painted here. The factory that was supposed to make new coaches was never allowed to work at its full capacity. But now our aim is to make 500 coaches in a year," he added.

Hitting out the rival Congress further, he asserted that "When the Congress government decided to build the rail coach factory here, it was decided that 5,000 employees would be given jobs. However, only half the number was appointed. It was only after 2014 that 2,000 government employees were appointed. I am sure that the pace of development now will turn Raebareli into a global hub."

The Prime Minister also underlined that local businessmen benefited after the factory became functional. "Earlier, less than a crore of goods used to be purchased for this factory from the local merchants. However, the local traders sold material worth Rs 125 crore after we came to power," he said.

In his concluding statement, the Prime Minister assured that metro coaches will also be manufactured in the factory in near future.