December 4, 2024
Bapi Halder’s speech on The Railways(Amendment) Bill, 2024
Thank you Honourable Speaker Sir for letting me speak on the Bill. I also thank the people of Mathurapur Constituency for their love and support, today I got the opportunity to speak in the Parliament. Honourable Speaker Sir, through you I would like to draw the attention of the Railway Ministry. We get to hear about many new projects like the Amrit Bharat Station, Vande Bharat Express, Bullet Train etc. Practically, infrastructure and service are the two main components of Railways. There are many places where infrastructure exists, but there is degradation of service. Honourable Speaker sir, in reality, we see the only lifeline that common people have is the Railways. But the Railway Ministry acts indifferent towards the security of the common people. Seems like they are not serious enough about passenger safety. Honourable Sir, the trust and confidence of the common people towards the Indian Railways is at rock bottom. During the tenure of previous governments, the senior citizens used to get a concession on their long travel ticket fares. Now this concession has been withdrawn. I believe this should be reintroduced as soon as possible to help the common people. Honourable Sir, the way current railway services are deteriorating, the way the number of employees in the Railway services are being lessened, is similar to how they are curtailing the number of railway compartments. We have seen, that train gets canceled anytime and this has become a practice. Common people are finding themselves in huge trouble because of this. Still, we don’t see the railway department taking any major steps to change this. With each passing day, the Railway fare is increasing, but the services are degrading. Lakhs of people are commuting daily via train by risking their lives. We have heard a lot about new technologies. We have heard about Kavach. But in reality, we haven’t seen those being implemented and the common man is deprived of those facilities. Frequently we wake up to the news of some train accident, someone dying a mother losing their children to an accident, a brother losing their sibling or a child losing their father. This is unfortunate for us. I believe the railway department should prioritize more on passenger safety. The small halts and stations lack in providing proper service to the passengers. Honourable sir, in this regard I would mention the Kakdeep and Kashinagar stations in my constituency. There is infrastructure, yet no train stops there, thus the people can’t avail the services to this date. The common man has pleaded many times but the Railway ministry paid no heed to them. The previous member of Parliament also demanded this several times. The common people have demanded to increase in the number of platforms in Madhabpur station, but to no avail. The common man has to commute daily through the unmanned level crossing risking their life. I would request the railway ministry to please look into these matters with urgency and help the common people. We have been told this time and again that in West Bengal, we haven’t provided land for the work of Railways. West Bengal has been labeled like this. However, I believe that this is a lie. I can state with utmost responsibility that from Lakshmikantapur to Namkhana, land has been identified for the doubling of Railway lines. The Railway Department has not yet started the work. We have told them repeatedly, yet no work has been done. From Jaynagar to Raidighi, land has been identified for creating a new line. That has been proposed in the budget during the tenure of the then Railway minister Mamata Bandopadhyay. That work is yet to begin. We know, that many trains in West Bengal that were stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic haven’t been started again. Through you Honourable Speaker Sir, I will request the railway ministry to resume the services of these trains which were stalled during the COVID Pandemic. Honourable Sir, in conclusion, I would like to request the honorable Railway minister to not discriminate against West Bengal and the projects within the Mathurapur Constituency which were included in the railway budget presented by the then Railway Minister and current Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Bandopadhyay should be started without delay as in the new rail line expansions between Jaynagar to Raidighi and Lakshmikantapur to Dhanganga, Namkhana to Bakkhali, Kakdwip to Gangasagar. I have said this numerous times and I have also informed the honourable minister through a letter. I would conclude my speech by thanking you once again.
