Freight corridors driving growth: PM
Taking aim at his critics in Vadodara, the PM said the Opposition will invent fresh objections even as infrastructure grows
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday underlined the robustness of the Indian economy and growth despite global turbulence and took a dig at the Opposition, terming it naraz fufa (grumpy uncle).
Speaking at the inauguration of three key sections of the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, connecting Jawaharlal Nehru Port in Navi Mumbai with Dadri in Uttar Pradesh, and marking the project’s completion, the PM praised the administration’s pace of execution and called the former Congress-led UPA regime’s working speed sluggish.
“After 2014, India built 50,000 modern rail coaches. The previous regime could not build even 50,000 toilets in 10 years,” he said. Making these assertions at a public programme, including a large number of youth, at Vadodara after launching and laying foundation stone of projects worth over Rs 35,000 crores, he took a jibe at the Opposition over the newly inaugurated dedicated freight corridor.
Targeting senior Rahul Gandhi without naming him, the PM said the opponents would always find fault with major infrastructure milestones such as the newly inaugurated freight corridor. The PM said critics would still complain like a naraz fufa and manufacture grievances.
“Now, the naraz fufa will start shouting: What will happen to the truck drivers? Where will the trucks go? What about the trucks people have purchased? Now, he has found something new to complain about,” the PM said.
The cultural reference to the fufa (uncle) was apparently used because in several parts of the country the paternal aunt’s husband is often portrayed as a senior person who is easily offended, is hard to please at family events, and perpetually complains about innocuous things.
Attacking the Congress, the Prime Minister charged the Opposition with misguiding the youth and said, “Saathiyo, jhooth ki goonj se bharmane wale toh har chaurahe par mil jayenge, lekin Bharat ka naujawan sach ki hunkaar se chalta hai... Satya ki hunkaar ke liye chalta hai (At every nook and corner, you will find people who will try to mislead you through lies, but today’s youth will stand with the truth),” PM Modi said.
A double-stack container freight train, where containers are stacked one atop the other, was operated from the JNPT port in Mumbai to Vadodara recently and with the operation of that train volume of cargo equivalent to over 250 trucks was transported between the two cities in a single trip, PM Modi said.
Describing the dedicated railway freight corridor as the lifeline of a rapidly developing nation, the PM noted that India’s economic transformation was accelerating due to the modern freight structure.
Earlier, passenger and goods trains were forced to run on the same tracks, which severely hampered both passenger travel and freight movement, but the dedicated corridor altered that dynamic, he explained.
Modi said that the Eastern and Western Freight Corridors are now emerging as the main backbone of the nation’s trade and commercial activities. He said the 2,800-km Dedicated Freight Corridor serves as a testament to how the country’s work culture has been fundamentally transformed over the past 12 years.
Criticising the administrative delays under the previous government, he pointed out that though the concept originated in 2004 and a special purpose vehicle was set up in 2006, files remained stuck without progress until 2014.
India is scripting a new saga of manufacturing, spanning “chips to ships”, with components, final products and the supply chain for self-reliance being set up in the country, Modi said.
He said India had emerged as a major manufacturer of railway coaches, metro coaches and locomotives in the last decade.
A 100-km journey that earlier took 6.5 hours for a freight train can now be covered in less than half the time, while a 30-hour journey by truck can be completed in 10-12 hours on the Dedicated Freight Corridor, the PM noted.
Earlier, the PM walked on an elevated ramp to arrive on stage, and was greeted by the audience, mostly young people. He reciprocated with folded hands and waved back. PM Modi later inaugurated the BJP’s newly built Namo Kamalam office in Navsari town of south Gujarat.