Latest News

February 27, 2013

Congress Mantri kills `aam aadmi`, kills Bengal

Congress Mantri kills `aam aadmi`, kills Bengal

In the run upto 2014 general elections, the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government`s Union Railway Budget 2013-14 tabled on Tuesday in Parliament put an additional burden on the common man. Ms. Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as Union Railway Minister did not hike fares since her prime concern was the `aam aadmi` (common man). Trinamool Congress Parliamentary Committee held a Press conference in New Delhi on Tuesday after the railway budget.

Trinamool Congress MP Saugata Roy slammed the Union Government and accused them of showing vengeance towards West Bengal and deliberately ignoring the interests of the common people in Bengal. He said, `It seems that the entire budget has been done with a vengeance with utter vindictiveness of the Congress leadership to damage and destroy the Trinaomool Congress, I can assure the Congress that they will never succeed, rather in the next election they will be voted out of office and will not have the pleasure of presenting another budget. People of Bengal will give them a befitting reply in the next elections, the people in India will also reject them`, said Saugata Roy.

Saugata Roy said, `This is anti-people, anti-poor, and directionless. The Railway Minister has put a burden of Rs. 6,600 crore on the common man by hiking passenger fares earlier. The present hike will increase a freight charge by 5.9 percent which will be inflationary and result in a hike in essential commodities`. The UPA propose a hike of five-percent to six-percent from April 1 apparently in order to help Railways neutralize the recent diesel price hikes. The MP expressed his anguish that it will further introduce a fuel-adjustment component where prices of essential commodities will be increased twice a year. The common man will have to bear the brunt as raising freight means a hike on essential commodities. The fares and freights to be revised periodically, perhaps twice a year, in keeping with fuel costs.  

The Railway Minister in his budget speech proposed an increase in the amount of cancelation of tickets.  `The Railway Minister has increased the amount on cancellation of tickets and Tatkal tickets which is again a burden on common man`, added Saugata Roy.

`The slash in allocation of funds in case of Kolkata metro is drastic. The projects announced by former railway minister Mamata Banerjee and two of her colleagues were put on the back burner. The present railway budget is a sign of vengeance, hardly any funds were allocated`, said Saugata Roy referring to the `unkind` cuts in Kolkata Metro.Nowapara-Airport-Barasat line needed Rs. 2,300 crore but Rs. 17-crore was sanctioned. Airport-New Garia project needed Rs. 3,900 crore but only Rs. 25 crore has been allotted. The Dum Dum-Barrackpore-Dakshineswar is Rs. 2000 crore project and only Rs. 16 crore has been allotted. The Joka-BBD Bagh is Rs. 2,600 crore project and the only Rs. 45 crore has been allotted. The Kolkata East-West Metro is Rs. 4,800 crore project and 50 percent over ground work is complete. Only Rs. 100 crore has been allotted`. No allocation was mentioned for the expansion of railway tracks from Dankuni to Furfura Shariff. Ms. Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as the Union Railway Minister allocated Rs. 99 crores in 2010 Railway Budget for the said project.

Among important projects, that was hit by the step motherly attitude of the UPA are the Lakhikantapur-Namkhana-Chandannagar which needed Rs. 566 crore but only five-crore rupees were allocated in the Railway budget.

The Kancrapara coach factory needed Rs. 566 crore but the budgetary provision sanctioned by the Railway Minister was meager sum of Rs. 5 crore.

Similarly, Tarakeswar-Bishnupur needed Rs. 553 crore but only Rs. 20 crore was sanctioned. The Hashnabad-Hingalganj project needed Rs. 260 crore but only Rs. 1 crore was allocated in the railway budget.  `A new workshop was to be constructed at an estimated expense of Rs. 700 crore and only two-crore rupees is allotted. These are token allocations meant to kill the projects as a whole in the State.

`The Railway minister proposed seven-new-lines and out of that none for West Bengal. Similarly, the minister proposed five-electrification projects but none for West Bengal and even where the minister says of 22-projects which he propose to do for West Bengal after approval, none for West Bengal`, slams the MP. The MP said that West Bengal totally ignored when it comes to survey for new lines and gauge-conversions. However, in doubling the State features in one out of 25. `If you see the new trains too then you will see out of 67-proposed new express trains only four trains have been given to Bengal and that too weekly trains. Bengal gets none out of 26-passenger trains proposed by the minister. Only one EMU has been given to the between Sealdah-Berhampur which is like a lollypop to the half minister.  Out of 36 new lines, Bengal gets one`.  West Bengal gets only three extensions of lines out of 57. `Out of 14 gauge conversions, none are for Bengal. Only one new line for the State out of 27 new lines proposed by the minister`, he added.

 
`So, it seems that the entire budget has been done with a vengeance with utter vindictiveness of the Congress leadership  to damage and destroy the Trinamool Congress,  I can assure them that they will not succeed, rather in the next election they will be voted out of office and will not have the pleasure of presenting another budget. The people of Bengal will give them a befitting reply so will the people of India`, said Saugata Roy who concluded by adding `This budget is not even worth discussing, it’s a mindless and directionless budget. It does not talk of any new high speed trains like the Duranto introduced by Ms. Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as Railway minister`. 

`It is unfortunate that in spite of having a minister of state for railways from West Bengal besides another minister from the State, Bengal drew a big zero in the budget allocations.  It was all for Rae Bareli and Amethi. The Railway Minister has made a multiple announcements of project in the home constituency of his party president, new rail lines and projects for the adjacent constituency held by her son. The rest has been taken to Congress ruled states like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan`, said Saugata Roy.

Even the proposed wagon factory component manufacturing factory at Jellinghum in East Midnapore will face the hit since there was no fresh allocation of funds in the railway budget. Steel giant SAIL inked joint venture with Burn Standard (BSCL) for setting up the proposed unit.     

`The budget is not even worth discussing, it’s a mindless and directionless budget. It does not talk of any new high speed trains like the Duranto introduced by Ms. Mamata Banerjee during her tenure as Railway minister`, added Saugata Roy.