PATNA: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday flagged off the rollout of the country’s first high-speed electric locomotive and dedicated to the nation the factory in Bihar’s Madhepura that manufactured it.
Speaking at the concluding ceremony of the centenary celebrations of Champaran Satyagraha in Motihari, Modi said the high-speed electric locomotive project was approved by the Centre in 2007, but it gathered dust till the NDA government worked on it three years ago. “The first phase of the project is completed… Our government has stopped the culture of suppressing files,” he added after unveiling the locomotive through a remote device.
The 12,000-HP high-speed train engine has been developed at the Electric Locomotive Factory, a collaboration between India and France, in Madhepura. It is the first Make-in-India project of such a magnitude. The locomotive puts India in the same league as Germany, Russia, China and Sweden. So far the most powerful electric engine with Indian Railways was of 6,000 HP.
The PM also inaugurated development projects worth Rs 2,500 crore, including three sewerage networks and a sewerage treatment plant in Patna, as part of the Centre's Namami Gange scheme. Other projects included a lake beautification project in Motihari and a water supply project in Bettiah. He also flagged off the biweekly, fully AC 3-tier Humsafar Express between Katihar and New Delhi and laid the foundation stone for the doubling of the proposed Muzaffarpur-Sugauli-Valmikinagar rail tracks, a Rs 2401-crore project.
The ‘Satyagraha se Swachhagrah’ programme was attended by 20,000 Swachhagrahis (ambassadors of cleanliness movement), some of whom with exemplary achievements were felicitated by Modi with a shawl and Rs 51,000 cash award.
Modi praised Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, who was present on the occasion, saying the state was progressing rapidly with the leadership of Kumar and deputy CM Sushil Kumar Modi. He appreciated the fact that more than eight lakh toilets were built in Bihar in the last one year under the Swachhata Mission and that the state was close to reaching the national average.
With recent communal clashes having soured the ties between JD(U) and BJP, Modi dubbed communalism as a menace and stressed the need to erase it from society for achieving the development targets set for 2022. Speaking before the PM, Kumar said people of all communities have a right to live in peace and that violence in the name of religion and caste must stop.
Modi said the Centre will launch a Gram Swaraj Abhiyan from April 14 to ensure the message of hygiene reaches all sections of society.