Assam, May 16 (ANI): Trains parked at the Guwahati railway station as the Indian railways suspended trains amid rise in COVID19 cases, in Guwahati on Sunday. (ANI Photo)
By Nishant Ketu
New Delhi [India], May 18 (ANI): To prioritise its projects under the PM Gati Shakti Scheme, the Ministry of Railways has set up a new directorate under the Railway Board. According to official sources, the newly formed Gati Shakti directorate will be headed by an additional member rank official and will also comprise executive directors of finance, electrical, civil, traffic, signaling, and telecom. A director rank official from Railway Protection Force (RPF) would be the head security department.
Sources informed that setting up a dedicated directorate of Gati Shakti is an initiative of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw with an aim to give shape to the PM Gati Shakti Scheme in a time-bound manner. With the new setup, projects up to Rs 100 crore under Gati Shakti Scheme will get approval from Member, Finance and will be finally approved by the Chairman and CEO of the Railway Board.
Projects more than Rs 100 crore and up to Rs 500 crore will also get approval from Member, Finance and will be finally approved by the Ministry of Railways after the recommendation of the Railway Board. The Gati Shakti Directorate will get approval for projects more than Rs 500 crore and up to Rs 1000 crore from Member, Finance and will be approved by the Ministry of Railways. Projects, more than Rs 1,000 crore will get approval from Member, Finance and will be approved by Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
The directorate will be responsible for planning, prioritizing, and implementing projects under the Gati Shakti Scheme. It has also been decided to set up a new Gati Shakti Cell in strategic locations at the division level. The Divisional Gati Shakti Cell will be headed by DRMs. Primarily, it will be set up in Delhi, Bangalore, Bilaspur, and Khurda and will be expanded later.
With this, the number of directorates within the Ministry of Railways increased from 24 to 25. Notably, PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan (PMGS-NMP) was launched on October 13, 2021, for providing multimodal connectivity infrastructure to various economic zones. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) accorded approval for the implementation of the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan on October 21, 2021.
PM Gati Shakti is a transformative approach to economic growth and sustainable development. The approach is driven by 7 engines, which are named Railways, Roads, Ports, Waterways, Airports, Mass Transport, and Logistics Infrastructure. (ANI)
