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Metro Projects, Public Transport Top Govt Priority
Posted by Pradeep Sadanapalli | April 18, 2008 | 273 views
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Loading ...Urban development minister Jaipal Reddy said the government was in favour of a Metro rail system to strengthen public transport facilities and to reduce traffic problem.
“Whereever the state government has come forward, we are lending substantial assistance” to Metro and Bus Rapid Transit System, he said while replying to questions in the Rajya Sabha.
Metro projects for Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata and Kochi are in different stages of approval. As far as Metro projects are concerned, Reddy said the government’s effort was to expedite the process and in two years timeframe “we will be able to lay the foundation stones and start working.”
BRTS projects have been approved for Ahmebadad, Rajkot, Surat, Indore, Bhopal, Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Vijayawada, Bhopal and Jaipur under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, he added.
He said the government has urged the state governments to construct separate tracks for cycles and pedestrians while implementing BRTS.
To a separate question, Reddy said the number of vehicles in metro cities, particularly cars and two wheelers, has shown a substantial increase in recent years.
Realising the seriousness of the situation, he said, the government has formulated the National Urban Transport Policy which seeks to promote integrated land use and transport planning, greater use of public transport and non-motorised modes of travel.
Meanwhile, a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, minister of overseas Indian affairs Vayalar Ravi the government proposes to set up a Council for Promotion of Overseas Employment, which would function as think-tank to respond to changes in the international labour market.
The proposed council, approved by the Cabinet, would function as a strategic think-tank and respond to changes in the international labour market on a real time basis.
The council will identify future overseas employment opportunities, emerging labour supply gaps, country and sector-specific skill needs for overseas deployment of workers.
SOURCES:
Financial Express
Topics: Infrastructure |
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