The Railways Minister also interacted with delegates from Tamil Nadu who were invited to the Kashi Tamil Sangamam.
Railways minister interacted with participants from Tamil Nadu who came to Varanasi for the Kashi Tamil Sangamam. (Ashwini Vaishnaw/Twitter)
Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw on Saturday, 10 December, announced a new train service between Kashi and Tamil Nadu to commemorate the ongoing Kashi Tamil Sangamam being held in Varanasi.
The Kashi Tamil Sangamam Express will be announced soon, he said.
Vaishnaw interacted with delegates from Tamil Nadu who were invited to the Kashi Tamil Sangamam and also inspected the redevelopment plan of the Varanasi Junction Railway Station, according to an official statement.
The minister said that the station will be developed into a world-class facility in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of making railway stations resemble airport terminals.
Close to ₹7,000 crore will be spent in revamping the station, he said, adding that the redevelopment will be done keeping the next 50 years in mind.
He said that in order to ease the heavy footfall of passengers at railway stations in Varanasi city, integrated development of all the railway stations in the region will be carried out.
Vaishnaw also said that the manufacturing of the Vande Bharat sleeper trains will commence soon.
We will start a ‘Tamil Kashi Sangamam’ Express train to commemorate this incredible cultural bond. pic.twitter.com/GN1Vd58zrl
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) December 10, 2022
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi had on 17 November, flagged off the train carrying the first set of delegates for the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam initiative of the BJP-led Union government — a programme that Prime Minister Modi has taken special interest in — from the Egmore railway station in Chennai.
Modi inaugurated the event on 19 November at the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) located in his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.
As part of the month-long programme that will wind up on 16 December, people from Tamil Nadu belonging to 12 different “clusters”, are being taken on an educational tour to Varanasi as special guests.
The initiative is aimed at rediscovering, reaffirming and celebrating the old-age links between the Tamil culture and Kashi that have existed for centuries.
The event, which is being organised by the Union government as a part of “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” and to uphold the Spirit of “Ek Bharat Shreshta Bharat”, comes at a time when the BJP is facing criticism from political parties in Tamil Nadu such as the ruling DMK for allegedly undermining the Tamil language and culture.
(Disclaimer: Only the headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed).
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