South Western Railway (SWR) officials, who had for the first time decided to hear members of Parliament from the jurisdiction in the run-up to the budget, were surprised when only five of the 40 MPs from Karnataka attended the meeting in Hubballi on Tuesday.
The SWR had organised the meeting to listen to the views of the people’s representatives instead of preparing the demand list for the budget on its own. Those who made it to the meeting were P.C. Gaddigoudar (Bagalkot), Suresh Angadi (Belagavi), Shivakumar Udasi (Haveri), B. Sriramulu (Ballari), and Pratap Simha (Mysuru).
Only 12 MPs who could not attend the meeting had sent out their demands, said chief public relations officer, SWR, E. Vijaya.
Joshi on official tour
Even the MP for Dharwad, Pralhad Joshi, did not attend the meeting. He reportedly had an official tour as the chairman of the Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas. He had requested for a change in the date, sources said. While none from Bengaluru attended the meeting, Bengaluru Central MP P.C. Mohan told The Hindu that he met divisional railway manager, Bengaluru division, Sanjiv Agarwal on Monday and submitted a detailed list of demands for Bengaluru region.
The SWR had invited 48 MPs, including those from Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu where its network exists. Karnataka has 40 MPs — 28 in the Lok Sabha and 12 in the Rajya Sabha.
Ms. Vijaya said while the Railways was capable of planning operational requirements, MPs would help it plan projects in the background of socio-economic development of the region. SWR general manager A.K. Gupta said the zone had earlier listened to the members of the Zonal Rail Users Consultative Committee on the issue.
MPs’ reluctance to attend the meeting has not gone down well with the pressure groups working towards enhancing railway facility in the State. Sanjeev V. Dyamannavar of Praja.org said all MPs could have acted as a group to bring pressure on the Railways for speedy implementation of various ongoing works and enhance connectivity. Karnataka government is into cost sharing of all new railway projects and the MPs had the right to ask the Railways to expedite the projects, he said.
Declining to comment on the absence of his peers, Mr. Simha told The Hindu it was his duty to attend the meeting as people had chosen him for the purpose. He said he presented a detailed list of demands for Mysuru–Kodagu region.
