Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday virtually inaugurated a 20-kW FM transmitter at Ramgarh in Rajasthan during a programme held at the Akashvani premises in Jaipur.
The event was attended by Jaipur MP Manju Sharma, Prasoon Joshi, Akashvani Director General Rajeev Kumar Jain and other senior officials.
Addressing the gathering, Vaishnaw said the new transmitter was part of the government’s broader effort to strengthen communication infrastructure in border areas and improve coverage across strategically important regions.
“Today, a major initiative to cover border areas has commenced in Rajasthan. The plan is to provide comprehensive coverage across the entire border belt of the country, stretching all the way from Kashmir. For a long time, these areas were neglected,” the minister said.
Referring to infrastructure development in border regions, Vaishnaw criticised the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, alleging that railway connectivity in such areas had not received adequate attention.
“Railways had been systematically neglected, particularly in the border regions. Under the UPA government, the allocated budget for these sectors was a mere ₹682 crore. Since Prime Minister Narendra Modi assumed office in 2014, the railway budget has been increased 15-fold,” he said.
The minister also reviewed progress under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme, stating that work at nearly 200 of the 450 identified railway stations is approaching completion.
He said the station redevelopment programme is being implemented across both major and smaller railway stations.
“Development projects are being undertaken for stations of all sizes. While Jaipur Junction and Jaipur Gandhinagar stations have already become major attractions for tourists, we are also focusing on Jaisalmer, Alwar, Kota and Ajmer,” Vaishnaw said.
He added that certain issues related to the Jaipur railway station redevelopment project remain pending and require cooperation from the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) for their resolution.
(With inputs from ANI)
