Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Monday launched a dashboard for passengers to keep track of train punctuality as well as other such information from anywhere in the country.The 'eDrishti' dashboard has been developed by the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) and can be accessed at www.raildrishti.cris.org.in.Launching the dashboard, Goyal said people can now track any information related to Indian Railways in a swipe - even while on the move.They can find out about the movement of trains across the country, train punctuality, freight and passenger earnings, freight loading and unloading, progress of major projects, public grievances, details of railway stations and much more, he said.The Railway Minister also used the occasion to harp on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "transparent government". "We hold ourselves accountable to people's aspirations," he said.Goyal said the NDA government has given its report card at the end of every year for the past five years and "now it is time for people's mandate on the basis of these report cards".He added that it was this increased transparency in government procedures that had brought down the number of RTI (Right to Information) applications over the last five years.Goyal said 'eDrishti' was aimed at making the Indian Railways more transparent and asked people for suggestions to improve its services.
The Railway Minister also took an apparent dig at Congress President Rahul Gandhi for criticising the indigenously built Vande Bharat Express."Those who are weak and don't work hard make fun of Make in India," Goyal said.
On Friday, Gandhi had taken a swipe at Modi's Make in India programme after the much-publicised Train 18, rechristened Vande Bharat, broke down 200 km away from New Delhi on its return journey from the Prime Minister's parliamentary constituency Varanasi.The train had been flagged off amid much fanfare by Modi from New Delhi railway station.With regular complaints regarding the quality of food served on trains, the dashboard has also been linked to the base kitchens of the Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) to allow monitoring of the goings-on in IRCTC kitchens through live video.The dashboard will also provide live status of reserved and unreserved passengers travelling on trains besides providing the exact location of trains at any point of time.Goyal also informed that the Rail Land Development Authority (RLDA) had signed a deal with the Maharashtra government for the redevelopment of Mumbai's Dharavi slum.He said 45 acres of surplus land would be given for the project on a 99-year lease."With this, the redevelopment of the 400-acre slum will get a boost. I grew up near Dharavi, so in a way I am repaying my debt to the place," he said.The Minister also referred to Bollywood movie Gully Boy, which shows the Dharavi slums, and said, "Have you seen Gully Boy? Life will be transformed there.""This project will open new vistas for a huge amount of slum redevelopment across the country," Goyal added.