Kerala Congress chairman P.C. Thomas has said the setting up of a committee by Railways to study Kerala’s demand for a railway zone is in fact a neglect shown to the State.
Addressing a press conference in Appuzha on Monday, Mr. Thomas said protest of MPs from the State in the past had almost brought about the sanctioning the zone. “Now when the Railways say they have to examine the proposal by setting up a committee, it is a neglect to the State,” he said.
The carving out of a new zone from the railway zone of 8,600 sq kms was a necessity for administrative purposes, Mr. Thomas said. “The State, it seems, has already lost out in the case of Railway Coach factory at Palakkad and Wagon factory at Chertala. The talks of private participation in the wagon factory project at Chertala are a ploy to destroy the project,” he said.
