India to have world's second-largest metro system in next two years: Hardeep Puri

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri, during a discussion with former judges, military veterans, and intellectuals, highlighted the progress of urban metro transport over the past ten years. He stated that within the next two and a half years, India will boast the world's second-largest metro system.

While speaking with ANI Hardeep Singh Puri said  “In today's day, the fact that needs to be reiterated is that there are 1 crore people riding on the metro every day, and out of the 1 crore people, 73 lakh are the ridership of the capital region of Delhi. Today, even though the population of the city is expanding massively, it is still easy to get from one part of the city to the other within a reasonable period of time. More people are taking to urban transport.”

He further added “Today we have 945 kilometers of metro system functioning in the country, and we have another 1,000 under construction. This will be done in the next two and a half years, and we will have the world's second-largest urban transport metro.Who would have thought of it when Vajpayee ji started this metro system back in 2002?"

The Union Minister also discussed the criminal justice system and the modernization of the police force, emphasizing the significant progress made over the past decade under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.

Quoting from page 55 of the BJP manifesto, Hardeep Singh Puri said, “The manifesto reads about modernizing police forces and will assist states in transforming the police into a tech-savvy, tech-trained, and tech-equipped force through the police modernization scheme. This is just one thought, but behind that is an entire ecosystem of reform that is already underway and will be accelerated in the next five years.”

Former Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi also took the stage, lauding Prime Minister Modi's government for encouraging innovative and unconventional approaches. He said, "PM Modi's government is imbued with out-of-the-box thinking. The way to encourage out-of-the-box thinking is the speciality of the Modi government. I have worked with past governments as IG Chandigarh, DG Goa, and then I was Delhi Police Commissioner in both union governments. The Modi government encourages the security establishment to think outside the box and solve complex issues.”

He continued saying  “Intelligence gathering used to happen earlier also but it is the Modi government which has ensured that agencies work overtime to ensure no bomb attacks can take place.I spoke to poor people from Bihar and eastern UP earlier. Even though they get free power and freebies in Delhi, they said they want Modi to come to power in the center as only Modi can develop Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, and then they can go back to their hometowns as there will be jobs there!" 

The former Police Commissioner noted that under the Modi government, a new era has begun, highlighting that there have been no bomb attacks in Delhi over the past decade. He also discussed the expansion of the Delhi Metro and said “There used to be a lot of 1970's traffic indiscipline and jams back then in the 1970s. The way the Delhi metro has been expanding under the central government is commendable.”

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri emphasized that the conversation extended beyond the past decade's accomplishments and the metro system's expansion. He highlighted that the interaction brought forth insightful suggestions from the distinguished guests on new initiatives for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's third term. 

"Many people were of the opinion that ever since PM Narendra Modi has been leading the country, the Pakistan factor has nearly diminished. There is a lot of movement in PoK but only time will tell what is to happen and how things will unfold” he said.

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