Mangaluru’s railway woes
Many people in coastal Karnataka would like to see the Mangaluru railway region merged — at least with the South Western Railway (SWR) if not with Konkan Railway. The reason being Mangaluru has no division of its own and is served by these two, besides the Southern Railway.
However, they feel that the SWR, based in the State, has not been too proactive in addressing the region’s connectivity issues. Apparently, the SWR has ignored many requests for passenger trains and has introduced them only after a few people went to court.
Nalin Kumar Kateel ( in picture ), Dakshina Kannada MP, holds quarterly meetings to review railway-related projects. During one such meeting on Thursday, participating citizens raised issues concerning places under SWR. But a senior SWR engineer, who was deputed, did not have the answers to their woes. (Some of the projects in the district come under Mysuru division.)
Mr. Kateel observed that in the last eight years, no divisional railway manager of the SWR’s Mysuru division had attended any of the quarterly meetings and rebuked successive absentee DRMs for the repeated apathy.
Then, Mr. Kateel informed the railway engineer that he has scheduled an inspection of railway facilities between Mangaluru and Subrahmanya Road on July 22. “The DRM has to be present for the inspection. Please let me know whether he is willing to attend. If not, I’ll have to talk to the Railway Minister,” the MP cautioned. “If it is audacity, I know how to handle it,” he added.
Shobha takes on a ‘bachcha’
The State BJP has taken umbrage at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s remark calling Narendra Modi a “weak PM”. Mr. Gandhi had criticised Mr. Modi for not raising the issue of H-1B visas during his recent U.S. visit and for playing down the U.S. use of the term “Indian-administered Kashmir” in place of Jammu and Kashmir. In a tit-for-tat, Shobha Karandlaje ( in picture ), Udupi-Chikkamagaluru MP, said the Prime Minister had nothing to learn from a “bachcha” (in reference to Mr. Gandhi) as the nation appreciated Mr. Modi’s leadership. In the same vein, State BJP president B.S. Yeddyurappa retorted that the Congress leader had not yet matured to make political statements. Congress leaders, including Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and KPCC president G. Parameshwara, protested that the use of the word was undignified.
Varthur Prakash vs. govt. hospitals
Varthur Prakash ( in picture ), Kolar MLA, faced public wrath for commenting on services in government hospitals and praising private hospitals in the presence of Health Minister K.R. Ramesh Kumar. At a Journalism Day-related event on July 1, Mr. Prakash urged the people of Kolar not to go to government hospitals for treatment. “If you suffer from dengue, go to (private) hospitals in Bengaluru. Anyone going to a government hospital will return dead in three days,” he said. He explained that his son was recovering from dengue as he was admitted in a private hospital in Bengaluru.
In his address later, Mr. Kumar reacted strongly and cautioned Mr. Prakash against speak irresponsibly. “You don’t know the sufferings of the poor. I come across hundreds of cases appealing for government help,” the Health Minister said. Governments spend thousands of crores to provide healthcare services to people as many cannot afford private hospitals, he said.
The issue also spilled on to the streets with members of the Republican Party of India protesting and demanding that Mr. Prakash resign for letting government hospitals down. “Did you raise any question in the Assembly on issues affecting the poor?” they asked him.
Anil Kumar Sastry
Nagesh Prabhu
Vishwa Kundapura
