New Delhi, Mar 8 (PTI) Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Monday said the government is giving top-most priority to safety in railways, having committed an outlay of over Rs 1 lakh crore per year for upgrading various mechanisms.

Replying to the discussion on the Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 in the Rajya Sabha, the minister said that due to various interventions, the annual railway accident rate has come down to 30 from 171 incidents earlier.

He said various initiatives are being taken for technology upgradation and asserted that the Modi government has achieved more in upgrading the Railways infrastructure in 11 years than in 60 years of Congress rule .

The Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 was passed in the Upper House with a voice vote. The legislation was cleared by the Lok Sabha in December last year.

"In the UPA regime, investment to enhance safety used to be in the range of Rs 8,000-10,000 crore. Today we are investing a sum of over Rs 1.14 lakh crore every year on enhancing safety," Vaishnaw said.

"Even after reaching this level, we are not satisfied. We will have to go to the root cause of the matter to solve issues," Vaishnaw said.

Vaishnaw noted that steps have been taken to upgrade tracks, safety devices and level crossings. He noted that the government has completely eliminated safety issues at 9,000 unmanned level crossings by either putting in personnel or by constructing either an underpass or flyover.

The minister said the field office headed by General Managers and Divisional Railway Managers is now much more empowered.

"Now GM has 100 per cent power to accept the contract, whether the tender amount is Rs 10 crore or RS 1,000 crore. GMs are also given the power to approve projects below Rs 50 crore," he said, assing this decentralisation in the last 10 years has led to speedy execution of work.

Vaishnaw said the Prime Minister has a coherent faith in cooperative federalism. Even in the states where the BJP is not in power, they have received a good budget allocation in this railway budget, he said.

In states such as Kerala, where the BJP is not in power, the Modi government has allocated Rs 3,000 crore, which is much higher than Rs 372 crore done in the previous UPA regime.

Similarly, Tamil Nadu got Rs 6,626 crore against Rs 870 to 880 crore by the UPA. In Odisha, the allocation has gone up to Rs 10,000 crore as compared with Rs 800 crore in the UPA regime. West Bengal has received Rs 13,955 crore from the Modi government against Rs 4,380 crore by the UPA regime, the minister said.

"On what ground do they allege discrimination with the state governments," he said while requesting them not to do such petty politics Over the Opposition's allegation that the government missed an opportunity to reform the railways, Vaishnaw said for the last 10 years, a continuous process of reforms has been going on. In the last 11 years, 34,000 km of new railway tracks were laid, which is more than the total network of a developed country such as Germany.

"More than 45,000 km of tracks are electrified now," he said, adding this will help in the reduction in pollution and reduce dependence on fossil fuel, which is also a strategic requirement. Replying to lack of amenities such as toilets, the minister said in the last 11 years, over 3.10 lakh toilets have been made inside the Railway coaches.

Over the reduction of employment opportunities, Vaishnav said during the UPA tenure 4.11 lakh jobs were given, under the NDA rule, 5.02 lakh jobs have been given, he said.

Ramji Lal Suman of SP lamented that the Railways was not conducting recruitment exams and seats are lying vacant.

Vaishnaw said two exams were conducted by the railways recently. "One was for Group D, in which 1.26 crore candidates appeared. It was conducted for 68 days in 133 shifts in 211 cities in 726 centres in 15 languages," he said, adding that it was a transparent process with no paper leaks.

Vaishnaw rejected the apprehensions raised by the opposition parties that the Railways (Amendment) Bill 2024 will increase centralisation and reduce the power of the state governments. He noted that the bill seeks to enhance the functioning and independence of the Railway Board.

With the inclusion of the Railway Board under the 1989 Railway Act, the appointment, qualifications, tenure and criteria for the Chairman and members of the Board will be the responsibility of the central government.

The Bill also includes provisions to appoint an independent regulator that will oversee matters like fare determination and ensure the competitiveness of the Railways.

During the discussion, Sandeep Kumar Pathak of AAP, V Sivadasan of CPIM, Ramji Lal Suman of SP and BJP members Aditya Prasad and Pradip Kumar Varma participated. Sandeep Kumar Pathak supported the bill but said railway management needs an overhaul.

It needs investment in capacity building and more internal resource generation as currently 70 per cent of the resources go on pension and salary, he said.

Sivadasan said the rail ministry has "derailed". More than 2.5 lakh posts are vacant, he said adding the Railways is increasing ticket prices in the name of premium tatkal but reducing amenities.

They are putting big cut out of the prime minister at every railway station but are not ready to make toilets for passengers, he said PTI MSS KRH PRS MSS RT RT