In Malda, a nondescript town in West Bengal’s hinterlands, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated and laid foundation stones for rail and road projects exceeding Rupees 3,250 crore, underscoring the Centre’s resolve to knit the Northeast into the national mainstream. This salvo in infrastructure modernization heralds India’s first Vande Bharat Sleeper train, linking the sacred precincts of Maa Kali in Bengal to Maa Kamakhya in Assam. As Mr. Modi flagged it off from Malda Town station virtually extending to Howrah Guwhati (Kamakhya) he envisioned its nationwide proliferation, transforming long haul travel into an affordable facsimile of air luxury, slashing the Howrah Guwhati run by 2.5 hours while boosting pilgrimage and tourism.
The bouquet of initiatives extends to four new Amrit Bharat Express trains New Jalpaiguri Nagarcoil, New Jalpaiguri Tiruchirappalli, Alipurduar Bengaluru, and Alipurduar Mumbai fortifying North Bengal’s sinews to South and West India. Complemented by two LHB coach services to Bengaluru from Radhikapur and Balurghat, these arteries will serve students, migrant workers, IT professionals, and traders, catalysing inter state economic and social intercourse. Rail upgrades abound: electrification of New Cooch Behar Bamanhat and New Cooch Behar Boxirhat lines; next generation freight maintenance at New Jalpaiguri; Siliguri loco shed augmentation; and Vande Bharat depots in Jalpaiguri. The NH 31D Dhoopguri Phulbari four laning rounds out a portfolio that promises logistical efficiency, job creation, and cleaner, swifter operations.
Mr. Modi’s address framed these as emblems of Atmanirbhar Bharat. With over 150 Vande Bharat trains operational nationwide, Indian locomotives, coaches, and metro cars now outpace American and European output, fuelling exports and youth employment. Foreign tourists, he noted, chronicle this renaissance in viral vignettes, a far cry from an era when Indians yearned for imported marvels. Maintenance hubs in Bengal will spawn opportunities for local youth, while Amrit Bharat’s modern accoutrements democratize comfort for the poor and middle classes.
This is no isolated flourish. It aligns with relentless electrification, station redevelopment, and high speed networks, positioning rail as a vector of Viksit Bharat@2047. Yet, in politically fractious West Bengal, these gestures acquire added resonance, countering perceptions of regional neglect amid Trinamool Congress dominance. Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw, Shantanu Thakur, and Sukanta Majumdar flanked the event, signalling bipartisan stakes in progress.
Sceptics may parse this as electoral optics ahead of state polls, but the metrics compel reckoning: enhanced freight corridors, pilgrim facilitation to Ganga Sagar, Dakshineswar, and Kalighat, and southward links to Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. As distances shrink and self reliance surges, Mr. Modi’s mission to ‘connect India’ acquires momentum, rendering the Northeast not periphery, but pivot in the republic’s developmental odyssey.
