Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said the Rail Budget, which proposes no fare hike, caters to all sections of the society and showcases a vision to reorganise and rejuvenate the national transporter with the aim of providing trains with higher speed and safety.
Hailing the Rail Budget 2016-16 as "passenger-centric" as it entails no fare hike, Modi said it will play an important role in the country's rejuvenation.
He said the budget caters to all sections of the society and "stands out because it is an infrastructure-led and employment generating budget".
The government's efforts to comprehensively transform railways will gain even more momentum with this "development-oriented" Budget, he said.
"Rail Budget showcases a vision to reorganise, restructure and rejuvenate Railways with new processes, structures, norms and sources of revenue," Modi said.
He said 'Vision 2020' in the budget will make the railways free from capacity constraints with higher train speed, punctuality and safety.
"In the last year, we have seen lot of success and this budget is an effort to further improve on this," he said, while noting that along with IT, investment has been given importance.
Passenger facilities and rail upgradation have been two mantras of the rail budgets presented by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu so far, Modi said, adding this budget will go a long way in addressing the problems faced by the railways.
He said Railways has witnessed 2.5 times more investment compared to what was seen in the budgets presented in the previous government and expressed confidence that this budget will have longterm and positive contribution to the economy.
"Launch of unreserved, superfast trains, Antyodaya Express and Deen Dayalu coaches illustrate our unwavering commitment to serving the poor," the Prime Minister said.
"The boost to investment outlay shows our government's long-term vision for the Railways and the nation," he added.
Regarding announcement to strengthen rail connectivity in Manipur and Mizoram, he said it was "gladdening" as connectivity in Northeast is "one of our core priorities".
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"We have seen the budgets before Suresh Prabhu. I don't want to criticize those, but if I see the Budgets of last five years by the previous government, the Budget by Suresh Prabhuji has taken a big jump with 2.5 times higher investment," the Prime Minister said.
"Discipline in spending, efficiency in management and accountability to the consumer is the focus of our Government, which is reflected in this budget," Modi said.
He said said Prabhu had presented a thoughtful budget for the dynamic Railways of a progressive nation.
"This budget strives for the dignity of the poor, honour of the women, enthusiasm of the youth and broadening the smile of the middle class," he said.
"This budget presents an optimistic strategy for the future, while giving a complete account of the promises made in the budget of previous year. We have achieved a lot in the past one year and this budget presents an effort to make it further better," Modi said.
He said cleanliness and upgradation of passenger facilities and technology remains the basic Mantra of last two budgets. "Besides this, Railway projects have been defined on the basis of 'Commissioning', in place of 'Completion'. I believe this policy-transformation is a Paradigm-shift in nation's economy," Modi said.
"The special arrangement of the 'Super-fast trains' for the poor through launch of Antodaya Express and Deen-Dyalu rail coaches, reiterate the commitment of our government to the poor," he said.
This budget will be an important tool towards the renovation of the nation. "The best thing is that the state governments are also enthusiastically participating in the expansion of our Railways," Modi said.
"A detailed road-map in this direction has also been presented. Along with that an effort has been made to seek the co-operation of Passengers and the Railway Employees, as well.
