NEW DELHI: Assam’s first Vande Bharat train was flagged off by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conferencing on May 29. The train will connect Guwahati with New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal and the journey will take five hours and 30 minutes. The Prime Minister also dedicated 182 route kilometers of newly electrified sections.
The Prime Minister said that the new Vande Bharat train will strengthen the centuries-old ties between Assam and West Bengal. This will increase ease of travel and provide huge benefits to students and will increase job opportunities arising out of tourism and business, said the PM.
The Vande Bharat will provide connectivity to Maa Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga, Manas National Park, and Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary.
The Prime Minister pointed out that it will also enhance travel and tourism in Shillong, Cherrapunji in Meghalaya and Tawang and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh.
Throwing light on the nine years of the NDA Government in power, the Prime Minister remarked that the nation had witnessed numerous accomplishments and unprecedented development towards a new India in these years.
He highlighted the newly inaugurated magnificent Parliament House of independent India and said that it will connect the thousandyear-old democratic history of India with its prosperous democracy of the future. Referring to past governments, the Prime Minister pointed out that the scams of before-2014 had broken all records where the maximum impact was felt by the poor and the states which lagged behind in development.
“Our Government has prioritised the welfare of the poor”, the Prime Minister remarked as he gave examples of houses, toilets, tapped water connections, electricity, gas pipelines, the development of AIIMS, infrastructure boost to roads, Railways, airways, waterways, ports and mobile connectivity.
He underlined that the Government had worked at full strength to achieve these goals. Noting that infrastructure makes people’s lives easier, creates employment opportunities and becomes a basis for development, the Prime Minister mentioned that the infrastructure development pace in India was being discussed all over the globe.
