Slamming the railway budget, the opposition parties on Tuesday said it will hit the common man further through direct hike in freight rates and an indirect hike in passenger fare charges and will have a spiralling effect on prices.
They also raised concerns were on ‘non-announcement’ of any safety measures in the Budget. They also pointed out that the Vijayawada Railway division got a raw deal in the railway budget presented by Railway minister Pavan Kumar Bansal.
CPI protest
The CPI activists led by party city secretary Donepudi Sankar staged a protest in front of railway station.
He said that step-motherly treatment was meted out to Vijayawada division though it topped in South Central Railway with Rs.2,000 crore revenue.
There were no new trains. Nor the funds were earmarked to complete the modernisation works.
The satellite station remained on papers, he said. CPI(M) city secretary Ch. Babu Rao said that injustice was meted out to Vijayawada division again.
Except announcement of a water plant, there were no proposals to develop the division or the station. The budget deeply dissatisfied the citizens.
As many as 250 trains pass through Vijayawada every day, and more than one lakh passengers travel from here. Surprisingly, there were no new trains were announced to meet the demand, he said.
The 5 per cent hike in freight rates will have a cascading effect on inflation.
The Railways' contribution to inflation is going to increase and will have a spiralling effect on prices, which is already breaking the back of common people, he added.
CPI senior leader former city secretary K. Subba Raju said that the division topped in revenues.
But, the budget disappointed the people as there were no new trains, facilities, and schemes to develop the division and city station, he said.
AIYF leader Navaneetam Sambasiva Rao said that the minister failed to enthuse the unemployed youth.
The government should provide concession to youth attending interviews and examinations, he said.
