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Rail budget pro-poor: Congress

Sandeep Joshi

It has addressed the needs of all sections of society, says Subbarami Reddy

Opposition accuses Mamata of being
West Bengal-centric, ignoring other States
Double-decker train plan impractical: AIADMK

NEW DELHI: Congress MPs in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday hailed Mamata Banerjee for presenting the “pro-poor” railway budget and for the steps initiated to strengthen railway infrastructure. On the other hand, Opposition MPs accused Ms. Banerjee of being “West Bengal-centric” and ignoring other States.

Taking part in the discussion on the budget in the Upper House, T. Subbarami Reddy (Congress) said Ms. Banerjee had done a commendable job by presenting the budget that took care of every important aspect of the Railways. It addressed the needs of all sections of society — youth, the poor, farmers, workers and women. It talks about improving passenger safety and better amenities, building a modern railway network and welfare of railway employees, he said.

Countering the charges of BJP members that the finances of the Railways were in a bad shape, Mr. Reddy said that by proposing a White Paper on the subject, Ms. Banerjee wanted to bring in more transparency. It was wrong to say that by bringing out the White Paper, she was targeting her predecessor, he added.

Demanding more trains for better connectivity from Andhra Pradesh, especially one for the holy town of Tirupati, and track expansion, Mr. Reddy urged the Minister to release money for projects worth Rs.6,000 already cleared for Andhra Pradesh.

Mr. Reddy said there was nothing wrong in Ms. Banerjee proposing the construction of a 1000 MW power plant or opening of medical colleges. The Railways is a huge organisation and there was nothing wrong in its decision to diversify to help build the nation’s assets and infrastructure.

Samajwadi Party MP Virendra Bhatia said Ms. Mamata had taken “extra care” of West Bengal by ignoring other States. Accusing her of shelving or ignoring some projects announced by her predecessors, he said her focus should be on providing better amenities to passengers.

AIADMK member K. Malaisamy said the proposal to run double-decker trains was impractical and questioned the decision to run non-stop trains. He asked Ms. Banerjee to look into the demands of the people of Tamil Nadu that included running additional trains, expansion of railway lines and modernisation of stations.

Bhagat Singh Koshiyari of the BJP said the decision to bring a White Paper clearly indicated that the financial health of the Ministry was not good and the UPA government had misled people about it.

Manohar Joshi of the Shiv Sena asked Ms. Banerjee not to promote privatisation and demanded deployment of more commandos at the Chhatrapati Shivaji railway terminus in Mumbai.

P. Rajeeve of the CPI alleged that the government was attempting privatisation through the back door, while members from the northeastern States — B.P. Baishya (AGP), Biswajit Daimary (Bodoland People’s Front) and O.T. Lepcha (Sikkim Democratic Front) — asked for development of railway infrastructure in their region.

Full text of Mamata Banerjee's Railway Budget speech

Highlights of Railway Budget 2009-10

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