Namaskar,
Governor of Assam Shri Gulab Chand Kataria ji, Chief Minister Bhai Himanta Biswa Sarma ji, members of the Union Cabinet Ashwini Vaishnaw ji, Sarbananda Sonowal ji, Rameswar Teli ji, Nisith Pramanik ji, John Barla ji, all other ministers, MPs, MLAs and my dear brothers and sisters!
Today is a momentous day for the rail connectivity of the entire North East including Assam. Today, three projects related to the connectivity of the North East are about to start simultaneously. Firstly, the North East is getting its first 'Made in India' Vande Bharat Express today. This is the third Vande Bharat Express connecting West Bengal. Secondly, electrification work has been completed on about 150-kilometre track of Assam and Meghalaya. Thirdly, the newly constructed DEMU-MEMU shed at Lumding was also inaugurated today. I congratulate the entire North East and West Bengal including Assam and Meghalaya for all these projects.
Friends,
The Guwahati-New Jalpaiguri Vande Bharat Express train will further strengthen the age-old ties between Assam and West Bengal. With this, movement across the region will become faster. With this, the young friends studying in the colleges and universities will be benefitted. And most importantly, it will increase the employment opportunities related to tourism and trade.
This Vande Bharat Express will connect Maa Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga, Manas National Park and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary. Besides this, facilities for tourists will also increase for places like Shillong, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya and Tawang and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.
Brothers & Sisters,
This week, the NDA government at the Centre completes 9 years. The last 9 years have been of unprecedented achievements for India and of building a New India. Yesterday the country got the grand and modern New Parliament of independent India. This is the Parliament that connects India's thousands of years old democratic history with our prosperous democratic future.
There are several such achievements in the last 9 years, which were extremely difficult to even imagine before. In the decade prior to 2014, a record number of scams took place. These scams had caused severe losses to the country's poor as well as to those areas of the country which had lagged behind in terms of development.
Our government has given the highest priority to the welfare of the poor. From houses for the poor to toilets for women, from water pipeline to electricity connection, from gas pipeline to AIIMS-Medical Colleges, roads, rail, waterways, ports, airports, mobile connectivity, we have worked with full force in every field.
Today, the whole world is talking about the infrastructure work being done in India because this infrastructure makes life easier. The same infrastructure creates employment opportunities. This very infrastructure is the basis of rapid development. This infrastructure empowers the poor, dalits, backward, tribals and every such deprived section of the society. Infrastructure is meant for all without any discrimination. And that's why this infrastructure development symbolizes true social justice and true secularism.
Brothers & Sisters,
The Eastern and the North-eastern part of India have benefitted the most from this work of infrastructure development. To cover up their past failures, some people claim that a lot of work was done in the North East earlier also. The people of North East are aware of the reality of such people very well. These people made the people of the North East wait for decades for even basic amenities. North East had to bear the brunt of this unpardonable crime. Out of the thousands of villages and crores of families who were deprived of electricity until 9 years ago, a large number of people belonged to the North East. North East had a large population deprived of telephone-mobile connectivity as well as lacked good rail-road-airport connectivity.
Brothers & Sisters,
Rail connectivity of the North East is the witness to how change takes place when work is done with the spirit of service. This is also proof of the speed, scale and intention I talk about. Just imagine, the first train in the country ran from the Mumbai metropolis more than 150 years ago. Three decades later, the first train had started running in Assam as well.
Even during the period of colonial rule, be it Assam, Tripura, West Bengal, every region was connected by rail. However, the intention at that time was not public welfare or interest. The intention of the British at that time was to loot the resources of this entire region and loot the natural wealth here. After independence, the conditions should have changed in the North East and the railways should have been expanded. But after 2014, we had to do the work of connecting most of the North Eastern states by rail.
Brothers & Sisters,
This servant of yours has given top priority to the sensitivity and convenience of the people of the North East. This change in the country is the greatest and the most intense in the last 9 years, which the North East has experienced in particular. The budget for the development of railways in the North East has also increased manifold in the last 9 years as compared to earlier. Before 2014, the average budget of the Railways for the North East was around Rs 2,500 crore. This time the railway budget for North East is more than Rs 10 thousand crore. That is, there has been an increase of about 4 times. At present, the work of connecting the capitals of Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Sikkim with the rest of the country is also going on at a rapid pace. Very soon all the capitals of the North East are going to be connected to the broad-gauge network. Rs 1 lakh crore is being invested in these projects. This shows how committed the BJP government is towards ensuring better connectivity of the North East.
Brothers & Sisters,
The scale with which we are working today, the speed with which we are working, is unprecedented. Now in the North East, new rail lines are being laid three times faster than before. Now doubling of rail lines is taking place 9 times faster in the North East than before. Electrification of the rail network of North East which started in the last 9 years is now progressing rapidly towards the target of 100%.
Friends,
Due to such speed and scale, today many parts of the North East are getting connected by rail service for the first time. Nagaland has now got its second railway station after 100 years. There was a time when slow trains used to run on narrow gauge there but now semi-high-speed trains like Vande-Bharat and Tejas Express have started running in that region. Today, Vistadome coaches of Railways are also becoming a new attraction to promote tourism in the North East.
Brothers & Sisters,
Along with speed, today Indian Railways is also becoming a medium to connect hearts, connect society and connect people with opportunities. India's first transgender tea-stall has been opened at Guwahati Railway Station. This is an attempt to give a respectable life to those friends who expect better behaviour from the society. Similarly, under this 'One Station, One Product' scheme, stalls have been set up at railway stations in the North East. These are laying emphasis upon 'Vocal for Local'. Due to this, our local artisans, artists, craftsmen have got a new market. Wi-Fi facility has been provided at hundreds of stations in the North East. It is only with this combination of sensitivity and speed that the North East will move forward on the path of progress and the path to build a developed India will be strengthened.
Once again, my heartiest congratulations to all of you for Vande Bharat and all other projects! I wish you all the best!
Thank you very much!
