Injustice done to State in Railway Budget: Shettar

Of the eight proposals, only four were accepted

Mr. Shettar said in a release that Karnataka’s rail infrastructure density was just 16.9 per cent as against the national average of 24 per cent.

Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar has criticised the Railway Ministry for “doing injustice” to the State in the Railway Budget 2013-14.

Mr. Shettar said in a release that Karnataka’s rail infrastructure density was just 16.9 per cent as against the national average of 24 per cent, and way below Tamil Nadu’s rail infrastructure density of 31 per cent. Despite this, most of the projects proposed by Karnataka were not considered by the Railway Minister, Mr. Shettar said. This is in spite of the fact that Karnataka is the only State sharing 50 per cent of the cost and providing land for free for new railway projects.

Mr. Shettar said that of the eight new railway projects proposals sent by Karnataka, only four were accepted.State’s request to execute Bijapur-Shahabad, Talaguppa-Honnavar and Hubli-Ankola new line projects under the PPP mode were also not considered.

The All India Loco Running Staff Association said that the Budget should have focussed on complete implementation of Anil Kakodkar committee recommendations on railway safety.