UPA govt neglected Telangana, PM Modi doubled allocation of funds for railway projects: Ashwini Vaishnaw

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday said Telangana was neglected in a big way during United Progressive Alliance (UPA) rule but Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has doubled the allocation of funds for railway projects in the state.

Briefing mediapersons, Vaishnaw said, "Between 2009 -2014, UPA neglected Telangana in a big way. For undivided states, railway projects were allocated Rs 886 crore per year. When Narendra Modi came to power, he increased the allotment for Telangana to Rs 1,110 crore every year from 2014 to 2019. Further, it was doubled in the year 2019-2020 by giving Rs 2,056 crore. This year PM Modi gave record allotment for railways in Telangana by giving Rs 3,048 crore."

"The Multi-Modal Transport System (MMTS) agreement is that the Centre will bear one-third cost of the project while the State will give the two-thirds. The Centre has done its part by allocating the share but the State failed to do its part. Rs 631 crore is outstanding in the share of the state. MMTS needs to be extended but why is the state government not showing interest in it? This project aimed to provide service to the poor, youth and people from rural areas."

Earlier on Friday, the Railway Minister witnessed the functioning of 'Kavach', an indigenously designed Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system in Hyderabad. The minister informed that Kavach is Safety Integrity Level (SIL-4) certified which is the highest level of safety certification.

( With inputs from ANI )