Will take up Mohali-Rajpura rail link with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw: Ravneet Bittu
Manav Mander
Ludhiana, June 16
Minister of State for Railways and Food Processing Industries Ravneet Singh Bittu reached Ludhiana today and said he had been given the responsibility of resolving all issues related to Punjab and would make every effort to bridge the gap between the Centre and the state. The pending demand of the Mohali-Rajpura rail link would be taken up soon with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and 30 railway stations would be redeveloped, he added.
“My main aim for joining the BJP is to resolve the issues related to Punjab and will address these one by one,” he said. The government wants to release ‘Bandi Singhs’, he is with the government and will support the decision,” he said. He said he had no hesitation in meeting Amritpal’s parents, who is in the Assam jail and won the Khadoor Sahib seat independently.
“Amritpal’s parents are requesting the government for his release. I believe if anybody is in a jail and wants to improve his behaviour, work towards the welfare of the country, then he should be given a chance and we all should support,” he said, adding that he himself would talk to the government for his release.
Sharing his master plan for Punjab, he said, the issue of the Mohali-Rajpura rail link would be taken up soon with Vaishnaw. It would link New Delhi-Amritsar mainline at Serai Banjara.
The revised DPR on the Mohali-Rajpura rail link would be started at the earliest. It’s a pending demand of Punjabis. The minister added that 30 stations in the state were being redeveloped under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme and of these, only five — Amritsar, Beas, Bathinda, Jalandhar City and Pathankot Cantt — are in the planning phase, the work on the rest of the stations is in progress with a cost of Rs 1,103.27 crore.
On Amritpal’s release…
Amritpal’s parents are requesting the government for his release. I believe if anybody is in a jail and wants to improve his behaviour and work towards the welfare of the country, then he should be given a chance and we all should support it. — Ravneet Singh Bittu, MoS