MP Kesineni Sivanath has appealed to Railway Board Chairman Satish Kumar to take immediate steps to resolve pressing issues in the Vijayawada Railway Division and ensure the swift release of funds for the development of the city railway station under the Amrit Bharat Station 2.0 scheme.

In a meeting held at Rail Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday (July 22, 2025), the MP raised several pending issues concerning infrastructure and public safety across the Vijayawada division. He drew attention to the long-pending construction of Road Over Bridges (ROBs) and Road Under Bridges (RUBs) at key level crossings. These include Level Crossing No. 316 between Vijayawada and Gunadala, No. 147 between Rayanapadu and Kondapalli, No. 148 between Vijayawada and Rayanapadu, and No. 8 between Vijayawada and Ramavarappadu. He urged the Railway Board to take urgent steps to complete these works without delay.

Highlighting the importance of modernising Vijayawada railway station, the MP called for the immediate release of ₹836.47 crore sanctioned by NITI Aayog under the Amrit Bharat Station 2.0 scheme. He stressed that the timely release of these funds by the Railway Ministry is essential for accelerating the development works.

Mr. Satish Kumar assured that necessary directions would be issued to officials concerned.

Meanwhile, the MP has urged the Central government to reconsider the allocation of PM-SHRI (Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India) schools to NTR District, citing severe underrepresentation in the recently approved list. 

Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, the MP called for a review of the selection process and demanded the sanctioning of more schools to the district.

Despite the District having 827 benchmarked schools, and 550 of them meeting the eligibility criteria, only 27 schools were sanctioned under the PM-SHRI scheme, he pointed out. The sanction rate is 4.9%, the lowest across Andhra Pradesh, he added.

“The Andhra Pradesh government had recommended 62 schools for consideration, yet more than 56% of those schools did not make it to the final list. It is disappointing and unjustified,” he said.

Highlighting the preparedness of the district, the MP said that most schools in NTR District are aligned with the objectives of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and have the necessary infrastructure. “Given this, the low number of sanctioned schools is both puzzling and disheartening,” he said.

The MP called upon the Centre to review the selection process and allocate additional PM-SHRI schools to NTR District, said a release.