Prabhu likens Railways to ICU patient

“We can not be ambiguous about our goals”, said Prabhu, stressing on the role of chartered accountants in realising the potential of the Indian economy. “Many of the problems that we face today is because of the lack of investment in the past and also because modernisation has not been initiated in the railways”, Prabhu said.

The minister, however, asserted that things were moving in the right direction and called for cooperation from the states in dealing with the problems of railways.

This was disclosed by the Railway Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu in Kolkata on Friday. “We need to correct it, but nothing will happen overnight”, he said adding that the central government would be investing $120 billion in the railways. “All these are showing because of years of neglect and lack of investments”, said the minister.

The minister faced widespread protests after the railway board in the year 2013-14 had conducted written examination for recruitment in various position, but did not hire anyone. Freight accounts for two-thirds of railways’ earnings.

“We are trying to bring down the cost of electricity consumption by R3,000 crore a year”.

The app – Railway Mobile Instant Tracking Response and Assistance (R-MITRA) – immediately sends alerts to the nearest Railway Protection Force (RPF) inspector as well as the Divisional Security Control Room (DSCR) providing location as well as the identity of the victim. He said that the app works both online and offline in SMS mode by using the helpline number 56161.

Available now only to passengers of suburban trains services on Eastern Railway, the facility will be extended to other divisions as well as the South Eastern Railway, Gupta said. He said that 17 State Governments have already agreed to float the company. “Technology has a large part to play in bridging the gap and we are happy to have developed this app in such a short span of time”, said Prabhu.

Prabhu on Thursday announced the Centre would bear the entire additional cost of Rs.

He said that the first phase of East-West Metro rail connecting Salt Lake and Howrah will be operational from June 2018.