Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had a straight talk with several departmental heads and officers over the functioning of the ministry and told them that the work in the railways needs to happen on a mission mode, and the best way to achieve that was to follow the principle of “perform or perish”, according to sources.
Vaishnaw, who took charge as the Cabinet minister on July 7, said, “I look very simple and soft-spoken but my track record proves that I am a harsh taskmaster.”
The railway staff in his office or the minister’s cell works in two shifts whereas the minister reaches office at 9 am and is seen leaving the premises around midnight, the sources added.
In his Independence Day speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had set a target for the Indian Railways to connect all the northeastern state capitals. So far, all northeastern states, except for Sikkim, have a rail connectivity. Assam, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh are connected but work is in progress for Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland and Meghalaya.
PM Modi also announced the launch of 75 Vande Bharat Express trains to connect every corner of the country in the 75 weeks of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. Vaishnaw had directed the people in charge to advance the rollout plan of the Vande Bharat trains and link at least 40 cities by August 2022. The indigenous semi high-speed train will work on a network much like the Udan scheme of the aviation ministry connecting the far-flung areas to the mainstream.
Vaishnaw told his officers that he has zero-tolerance towards corruption and warned them that he would expose those who are involved in any such case. He also hinted that he does not believe in the word “impossible” instead his dictionary knows ‘I’m-possible’. Any deliberate attempt to compromise the safety and security of the railway operations would be dealt with an iron hand, warned the railway minister.
A special focus would also be given to enhance the freight and railways. Vaishnaw has asked the railway officials to find out the details of how the business of transportation of goods and services could also be done on the railway network.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Railways ran ‘kisan special trains’ and transported perishable goods such as fruits and vegetables from one part of the country to the other. From August 2020 to July 2021, more than 70 ‘kisan special trains’ have done more than 1,000 trips to transport 3.5 lakh kg of goods to different parts of the country.
Making the special trains a regular feature is now on the priority of the new railway minister.
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