To end corruption in Railways, PM Narendra Modi orders 'strictest action' against corrupt officials

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken a serious note of the "large number of complaints" about "corrupt practices" of Railway officials and directed strictest possible action against those found guilty. 

According to PTI, the PM has asked the Railways to work towards a unified single telephone number for all grievances and queries, including helpline in the case of an accident. 

PM Modi made the comments while reviewing the progress of vital infrastructure projects in the railway, road and power sectors, spread over several states.

Chairing a meeting of Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation (PRAGATI), an ICT-based multi-modal platform, he reviewed the progress towards handling and resolution of grievances related to Railways.

"Noting that a large number of complaints were related to corrupt practices of officials, he directed strictest possible action against Railway officials found guilty of corruption," a PMO statement said on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister has been asserting that his government is determined to eliminate corruption.

The projects reviewed are spread over Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland.

These included the Mumbai Metro, the Tirupati-Chennai Highway, long-pending road projects in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Manipur, and important power transmission lines in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.

Reviewing the implementation of Swachhta Action Plans, PM Modi said that events such as Swachhta fortnights should be converted into movements towards permanent solutions.

The Prime Minister also urged all Secretaries of the Government of India, and all Chief Secretaries of states, to come up with concrete plans and objectives for transformative change, to be achieved by the 75th anniversary of independence in 2022.

With PTI inputs