Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday (August 28) said that Indian Railways is all set to complete all the sanctioned projects in the next five years. The railway minister in an interaction with reporters after the cabinet meeting, which approved three railway projects with a total estimated cost of Rs 6,456 crore, said, “All sanctioned railway projects will be completed in the next 4.5-5 years." Vaishnaw also highlighted the average construction pace in Indian Railways has increased remarkably during the Modi government with 14.5 kilometres of tracks being constructed everyday. Also ReadIndian Railways construction pace rises from 4 km to 14.5 km per day in a decade, says Vaishnaw “10 years ago, the average construction pace in Railways was 4 km per day. Today, it is 14.5 km per day of railway lines being constructed,” the minister said, adding that 5,300 km of railway lines were added to the existing network last year. Railways to hire 1,54,000 new employees Regarding railway recruitment, the minister announced that the government has established a recruitment calendar to address vacancies within the national transporter. He explained that the calendar is divided into four quarters, each dedicated to specific categories of employment: the first quarter (January to March) for hiring loco pilots, the second quarter for technicians and junior engineers, the third for non-technical staff, and the fourth for Level-1 officers. Also ReadIndian Railways to expand: Cabinet approves Rs 6,456 crore for three major projects Vaishnaw noted that the annual recruitment plan has been set, with 45,000 vacancies advertised for the current cycle. He also highlighted that 154,000 individuals were employed in the railways during the last recruitment cycle.
