Kolkata, June 9 (IANS) West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari has constituted a special task force, inducting representatives from various state government departments and the Indian Railways to expedite pending railway projects in the state.

Insiders from the state secretariat of Nabanna said that, headed by the West Bengal Chief Secretary, Manoj Kumar Agarwal, the task force includes senior bureaucrats from various government departments like Home, Transport, Land and Revenue.

On the other hand, in the same task force, there will be representatives from Eastern Rail, South-Eastern Rail, Northeast Frontier Rail, Metro Rail and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL).

The total number of members in the task force will be 20, an insider from the state secretariat said.

The decision to form the task force to expedite the pending railway projects in the state was taken following the visit of Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to Kolkata last week when he held a meeting with the Chief Minister Adhikari.

At the end of the meeting, CM Adhikari announced that the Indian Railways is set to implement Rs 1,00,000 crore worth of railway infrastructure projects in the coming days so that every district in the state will be adequately connected through the railway network.

Speaking on the occasion, CM Adhikari also accused the previous (Trinamool Congress) regime in the state of always being in battle mode with the Union government, following which many railway infrastructure projects were not implemented in time.

He also said that the state government and Indian Railways will work together and railway infrastructure projects will be implemented at a much faster pace.

A state secretariat insider said the formation of the task force is the first reflection of the Chief Minister’s commitment to expedite the implementation of the pending railway projects in the state.

The Railways Minister had also announced the introduction of bullet train service in West Bengal. He said that the bullet train will start from New Delhi and reach Siliguri in North Bengal via Lucknow, Varanasi and Patna, and the entire distance could be covered in just six hours.

He also announced that 60 new train services will be introduced in the state in the next five years.

–IANS

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