Govt works for development of all 1.30 bn Indians, no politics

The NDA government strives for the welfare of 130 crore people in the country and there is no politics in railway works, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said on Tuesday.

His comments came at a railway event here in response to the remarks of Telangana minister T Srinivas Yadav that railways looked mostly towards north.

"Railways are neglecting South India a lot," Yadav said, alleging that funds earlier used to go to Bihar and West Bengal when railway ministers hailed from those states.

In his speech, Goyal said the NDA government worked for the welfare of citizens in the country and spoke at length on the funds allotted to Telangana for railway development works.

"My friend state minister Srinivas Yadav ji commented that railway mostly looks at north India and looks less at the south.

Srinivas ji, you probably have no idea of the real situation or you are forgetting that this situation you are mentioning....it was the situation of UPA government.It was not so in Narendra Modi government.

I never bring politics in railway works," he said.

"The order of the Honble Prime Minister to all our ministers is that ours is the government of 130 crore people," he said.

He said Rs 2,602 crore has been sanctioned towards various developmental projects in Telangana in the current rail budget as against the allocation of Rs 258 crore during 2014-15, which is 10 times higher.

He talked about various other railway development initiatives for Telangana.

Goyal laid the foundation stone for development of Satellite Terminal at Charlapalli railway station in Hyderabad and electrification of YerraguntlaNandyal section via remote video link.

He also dedicated to the nation double line with electrification of GuntakalKalluru section via remote video link and Free High-Speed Wi-Fi facility at 427 Railway stations in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh at a function held at the Secunderabad railway station here.

Secunderabad is the headquarters of South Central Railway (SCR).