RailEnquiry

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has criticised the Union Railway Ministry’s reported second cut in this year’s budgetary provisions sanctioned for the railway development in the State.

In a letter to C. P. Joshi, Union Minister of Railways, on Friday, Mr. Patnaik wrote, “I have come to know that Indian Railways has recently reduced an additional amount of Rs. 34 crore from the budgetary allocation of East Coast Railway, including Rs. 2 crore each from original budget grant for three major on-going new broad gauge rail link projects – Khurda Road-Bolangir, Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh and Talcher-Bimlagarh.”

“In June 2012, an amount of Rs.186 crore was reduced from the original budgetary allocation of Rs. 723 crore provided in the original budget announced. This is against our projected total demand of Rs. 2,345 crore for different projects in Odisha for 2012-13,” the Chief Minister said.

He said when the State contributed revenue of more than Rs. 7,500 crore annually to the Indian Railways, it was matter of regret that Rs. 220 crore had been reduced out of the paltry budgetary allocation of Rs. 723 crore, such reductions in budgetary allocation would greatly hamper the process of better connectivity in the State.

“Such reductions time and again result in delay in completion of railway projects and also leads to discontentment among the people,” Mr. Patnaik said.

Registering his protest over reported reduction in budget, he demanded that immediate steps should be taken for restoration of the original budgetary allocation.

In September, the Ministry had made a further revision in this year’s budget in projects, maintenance, and passenger amenities account. Despite the fact that ECoR functions with lowest operating ratio of 45.6 and gives a whopping earning of Rs. 8,850 crore, the Union Railway Ministry has been ignoring the State’s just demands, alleged a top East Coast Railway official.

Addressing a press conference, general secretary of Biju Yuva Janata Dal Sanjay Das Burma said, “the reduction in railway budget is an act of betrayal to the State. At a time when the State is witnessing fast industrialisation, downsizing of the budget would impact railway infrastructure badly.”