Nod to new South Coast Railway zone

Nod to new South Coast Railway zone

NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Friday approved the establishment of a new zone of the Indian Railways — South Coast Railway. This will include a portion of the Waltair division, which will be renamed the Visakhapatnam division.

The new railway zone has been created in accordance with the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act and is expected to improve efficiency in railway operations. The decision is a partial modification of the Cabinet’s earlier decision in February 2019, which had retained the Waltair division in truncated form and renamed it the Visakhapatnam division.

A government release said that ‘Waltair’ is a colonial legacy that needed to be changed, explaining the name change.

“One part of the Waltair division, comprising approximately the sections between Palasa-Visakhapatnam-Duvvada, Kuneru-Vizianagaram, Naupada Junction-Paralakhemundi, Bobbili Junction-Salur, Simhachalam North-Duvvada bypass, Vadalapudi-Duvvada, and Visakhapatnam Steel Plant-Jaggayapalem (around 410 kilometres), will be retained as the Waltair division under the new South Coast Railway,” the Cabinet said.

The remaining part of the Waltair division, comprising approximately the sections between Kottavalasa-Bacheli, Kuneru-Theruvali Junction, Singapur Road-Koraput Junction, and Paralakhemundi-Gunpur (around 680 kilometres), will be converted into a new division headquartered at Rayagada under the East Coast Railway.

The cabinet also approved the continuation and restructuring of the Central sector scheme ‘Skill India Programme (SIP)’ till 2026 with an overlay outlay of Rs 8,800 crore from 2023-26.

Briefing the media over Cabinet decisions, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “It is a mission of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to create opportunities for the youths. Therefore, Rs 8,800-crore Skill India Programme has been approved and the focus will be on convergence and quality.”

Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana 4.0 (PMKVY 4.0), the Pradhan Mantri National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (PM-NAPS), and the Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS) Scheme — the three key components — are now combined under the composite scheme of Skill India programme.

There are more than 2.27 crore beneficiaries under the three flagship schemes of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

The cabinet also approved the extension of the tenure of National Commission for Safai Karamchari (NCSK) for three more years. The total financial implication of the extension for three years of the NCSK Commission would be approximately Rs 50.91 crore, Vaishnaw said The present tenure of the Commission was to end on March 31 and it has been extended up to March 31, 2028.