The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi today gave a comprehensive exposition of the government’s vision of women empowerment. He said that absence of basic facilities like housing, electricity, toilets, gas, roads, hospitals and school has impacted the women, poor women in particular. most severely. Today when we are entering 75th year of Independence and we see the progress of last seven decades, feeling is inevitable that these problems should have been addressed decades ago, the Prime Minister said. He was speaking after launching Ujjawala 2.0 at Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh via video conference today.
Prime Minister said that leaking roof, absence of electricity, sickness in the family, waiting for it to get dark for toilet, absence of toilet in schools affect our mothers and daughters directly. The Prime Minister struck a personal note and said that our generation has grown seeing our mothers suffering from smoke and heat.
The Prime Minister questioned if our energy is spent on dealing with these basic needs, how can we move towards 100 years of our independence. How can a family or a society dream big and achieve them if they keep struggling for basic facilities. Feeling that dreams can be fulfilled is essential for a society to achieve its dreams. “How can a nation become aatmnirbhar (Self-reliant) without aatmvishwas (self confidence)” asked the Prime Minister.
Shri Modi said that in 2014 we asked these questions from ourselves. It was very clear that these problems need to be addressed in a definite time frame. He said that our daughters will be able to come out of the house and kitchen and contribute extensively in nation building only when the problems related to house and kitchen are solved first. Therefore, in the last 6-7 years, he said, the Government has worked to get solutions to various issues on a mission mode. He listed many such interventions like
Crores of toilets built across the country under Swachh Bharat Mission
More than 2 crore houses for poor families, mostly, in the names of women
Rural roads
3 crore families got electricity connection under SaubhagyaYojna
Ayushman Bharat is giving 50 crore people cover for upto 5 lakh rupees worth of free medical treatment
Direct money transfer for vaccination and nutrition during pregnancy under MatruVandana Yojana
30 thousand crore rupees were deposited by the government in the Jan Dhan Account of women during Corona period
Our sister are getting piped wanted under Jal Jeevan Mission.
He said that these schemes have brought massive transformation in the lives of women.
The Prime Minister noted that the resolve of health, convenience and empowerment of sisters has received great impetus from Ujjwala Yojana. In the first phase of the scheme, 8 crore women from poor, dalit, deprived, backward and tribal families were given free gas connections. He said the benefit of this free gas connection was felt in the era of the Corona pandemic. Crores of poor families got free gas cylinders for months when business was at stand still and movement was restricted. “Imagine, if Ujjwala was not there, what would have been the state of these poor sister”, asked the Prime Minister.
Cabinet approves two railway projects in Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh worth Rs 24,815 crore
April 18, 2026
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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, today has approved 02 (Two) projects of Ministry of Railways with total cost of Rs. 24,815 crore (approx.). These projects include:
Name of Project
Route Length (in km)
Track Length (in km)
Completion Cost (Rs.inCr.)
Ghaziabad – Sitapur 3rd and 4th Line
403
859
14,926
Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu) – Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) 3rd and 4th Line
198
458
9,889
Total
601
1,317
24,815
The increased line capacity will significantly enhance mobility, resulting in improved operational efficiency and service reliability for Indian Railways. These multi-tracking proposals are poised to streamline operations and alleviate congestion. The projects are in line with the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji’s Vision of a New India which will make people of the region “Atmanirbhar” by way of comprehensive development in the area which will enhance their employment/ self-employment opportunities.
The projects are planned on PM-Gati Shakti National Master Plan with focus on enhancing multi-modal connectivity & logistic efficiency through integrated planning and stakeholder consultations. These projects will provide seamless connectivity for movement of people, goods, and services.
The 02 (Two) projects covering 15 Districts across the states of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh will increase the existing network of Indian Railways by about 601 Kms.
The proposed capacity enhancement will improve rail connectivity to several prominent tourist destinations across the country, including Dudheshwarnath Temple, Garhmukteshwar Ganga Ghat, Dargah Shah Wilayat Jama Masjid (Amroha), Naimisharanya (Sitapur), Annavaram, Antarvedi, Draksharamam, etc.
The proposed projects are essential routes for transportation of commodities such as coal, foodgrains, cement, POL, iron and steel, container, fertilizers, sugar, chemical salts, limestone, etc. The Railways being environment friendly and energy efficient mode of transportation, will help both in achieving climate goals and minimizing logistics cost of the country lowering CO2 emissions (180.31Crore Kg) which is equivalent to plantation of 7.33 Crore trees.
Ghaziabad – Sitapur 3rd and 4th Line (403 Km)
Ghaziabad – Sitapur is an existing double line section forming a key part of Delhi- Guwahati High Density Network (HDN 4).
The project is crucial for improving connectivity between the Northern and Eastern region of the country.
The existing line capacity utilization of the section is up to 168% and is projected to be up to 207% in case the project is not taken up.
Transverses through Ghaziabad, Hapur, Amroha, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Sahjahanpur, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur districts of Uttar Pradesh.
The project route passes through major industrial centres - Ghaziabad (machinery, electronics, pharmaceuticals), Moradabad (brassware and handicrafts), Bareilly (furniture, textiles, engineering), Shahjahanpur (carpets and cement-related industries), and Roza (thermal power plant).
For seamless transportation, the project alignment is planned to bypass congested stations of Hapur, Simbhaoli, Moradabad, Rampur, Bareilly, Shahjahanpur, and Sitapur and accordingly, six new stations are proposed on the bypassing sections.
Key tourist/religious places along/near to the project section are Dudheshwarnath Temple, Garhmukteshwar Ganga Ghat, Dargah Shah Wilayat Jama Masjid (Amroha), and Naimisharanya (Sitapur) among others.
Anticipated additional freight traffic of 35.72 MTPA consisting of Coal, Foodgrains, Chemical Manures, Finished Steel, etc.
Estimated Cost: Rs.14,926 crore (approx.)
Employment generation: 274 lakh human-days.
CO2 emissions saved: About 128.77 crore Kg CO2 equivalent to 5.15 Cr trees.
Logistic cost saving: Rs. 2,877.46 crore every year vis-a vis road transportation.
Ghaziabad – Sitapur 3rd and 4th Line (403 Km)
Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu) – Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) 3rd and 4th Line (198 Km)
Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu) – Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) section forms part of the Howrah – Chennai High Density Network (HDN).
The proposed project is part of quadrupling initiative of Howrah – Chennai High Density Network (HDN) route.
The project traverses through East Godavari, Konaseema, Kakinada, Anakapalle and Vishakapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh.
Visakhapatnam is identified as an Aspirational District in the Aspirational Districts Programme.
It provides connectivity to major ports along the East Coast such as Visakhapatnam, Gangavaram, Machilipatnam and Kakinada.
The project route runs along the eastern coastline and is among the busiest, predominantly freight-oriented sections of the East Coast Rail Corridor.
The line capacity utilization of the section has already reached up to 130%, leading to frequent congestion and operational delays. The line capacity is expected to increase further due to proposed expansion of ports and industries in the region.
Project section includes 4.3 km rail bridge over Godavari River, 2.67 km viaduct, 3 bypasses and the new alignment is around 8 km shorter than the existing route, improving connectivity and operational efficiency.
The proposed section will also boost tourism by improving access to key destinations such as Annavaram, Antarvedi and Draksharamam etc.
Anticipated additional freight traffic of 29.04 MTPA consisting of Coal, Cement, Chemical Manures, Iron and Steel, Foodgrains, Containers, Bauxite, Gypsum, Limestone, etc.
Estimated Cost: Rs.9,889 crore (approx.)
Employment generation: 135 lakh human-days.
CO2 emissions saved: About 51.49 crore Kg CO2 equivalent to 2.06 Cr trees.
Logistic cost saving: Rs. 1,150.56 crore every year vis-a vis road transportation.
आर्थिक सशक्तिकरण:
Aspirational districts - Visakhapatnam district will get improved connectivity
Additional economic opportunities in the region through tourism & industries.
Better healthcare and education for the citizens due to enhanced rail connectivity.
Rajahmundry (Nidadavolu) – Visakhapatnam (Duvvada) 3rd and 4th Line (198 Km)
Prime Minister’s focus on railways:
Record budget allocation of Rs. 2,65,000 crore for FY 26-27.
Manufacturing more than 1600 locomotives- surpassed US and Europe in manufacturing of locomotive production
In FY 26, Indian Railways is expected to rank among the top three freight carriers globally, moving 1.6 billion tonnes of cargo.
India starts exporting metro coaches to Australia and bogie to United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, France and Australia.
