Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw today assured the people of Odisha to expedite the railway project in the State through a holistic approach.
The Minister held discussions over various issues about railways with BJP MPs from Odisha who met him and demanded expediting the pending works.
“MPs of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Odisha met me and discussed several issues about railways in the State. We all will work collectively to expedite the works on all projects in the State one by one. A holistic work is our aim,” Vaishnaw said.
He further said that he will review the various projects in Odisha during his visit to the State next week.
BJP MP Basant Panda who led the delegation said that the Minister has focused Odisha ever since he assumed charge as the Cabinet Minister.
“We discussed on all proposed and pending railway projects in Odisha and requested him to take those forward. The Minister took our requests seriously and assured us to work constructively,” Panda said.
It is worth mentioning that six districts in the State are yet to get connected with railway networks. Similarly, the State has long-standing demands over bringing the State’s railway network under the East-coast Railway division.
Before the Railway minister, the challenges include the stepping up of the Khurdha-Bolangir railway line, the introduction of passenger train on Paradip-Haridaspur route, and setting up of Rail wagon factory at Sitalpalli in Ganjam and electric locomotive maintenance workshop in Kalahanadi. Similarly, the conversion of Puri and Bhubaneswar railway stations into world-class stations would be a major work to be done by him.
Odisha’s expectations went high after Vaishnaw sought the blessings of Lord Jagnnath for the service of Odisha soon after his induction into the Union Cabinet.
