Himachal Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has described the Railway Budget presented on Thursday as a big disappointment and full of hollow ideas and promises with no substance at all. He also called it an unfortunate Budget for the hill State which has not been even mentioned by the Railway Minister. He said the Centre had again completely ignored the proposals of the State for extension of rail lines and conversion of existing rail tracks into broad gauge.
Mr. Singh reminded that in earlier budgets presented by the UPA government, few surveys for new lines and extension were announced but they also failed to find mention in the new budget.
Meanwhile, BJYM national president and MP Anurag Thakur has thanked the Union Minister for sanctioning Rs 100 crore for the Nangal Talwara railway line, Rs 160 crore for Bhanupalli-Bilaspur rail line and Rs 95 crore for Chandigarh-Baddi rail line in Himachal. The survey for the Hamirpur-Una railway line will also be completed this year and the survey for the extension of strategic rail line up to Leh is also under consideration by the Ministry of Defence, said Mr. Thakur.
