July 31, 2024
Mitali Bag’s speech in Lok Sabha on the budgetary allocation for the Ministry of Railways for 2024-25
Thank you, Chairperson, for allowing me to speak in the House. I pay my respects to Shri Shri Ramkrishna Thakur & Maa Sarada. I am grateful to the people of Arambag Lok Sabha constituency. The Indian Railways is among one of the biggest and busiest transportation services in the world. The present Indian Government is completely negligent about this. The Government has no answers to the rapidly rising numbers of train accidents. This is true that at present only a cruel game is being played in the name of passenger security. Incidents of burglary, theft and deathrow are rampant. The Central Government has failed to ensure passenger safety. Passenger safety and the standard of service are horrendous, yet everyday we get to hear in this House that everything is being done and 100 per cent of the work is being executed. Whatever work has been done, had happened during humanist Chief Minister Mamata Bandopadhyay’s tenure as the Railway Minister of India. Since then, the work has been stalled. Tarakeswar-Bishnupur, DankuniFurfura Sharif projects have been stalled. Are these not to be included in the honourable Minister’s claim of 100 per cent work being done? For the betterment of transportation facilities in Arambag, I immediately demand a new rail line from Khanakul- the birthplace of Bharat Prathik Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Birsingha, Pashkura- the birthplace of Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar who wrote “Borno Porichoy”. I request the hon. Minister for a new rail line to start its services between Arambag and Burdwan. Local trains are getting cancelled without notice which has added to the plight of the daily commuters. Thus, the commuters are raising constant grivances. There are not enough toilets in the platforms for women. There is scarcity of drinking water. The announcement of model stations is nothing but a false gimmick. In reality, we get nothing in the name of passenger services. It is all a farce. At present, no one is giving the due importance to the Railway Budget because it has been inducted into the General Budget, and the result is nothing but perplexing. Earlier there used to be a separate Rail Budget. Rail Budget has lost its dignity. Vacancies are not getting filled and the services are being run with inadequate employees. The efforts taken to privatize the Railways, have ensured worst standard of service. In consequence, the countrymen are having to pay with their lives. On 30th July, a scary accident has happened in the Howrah-Mumbai Mail. 18 compartments were derailed and many lost their lives. This is shameful. The Railway that was once the pride of India has become a cause of dread for the common people. In the name of providing better service, they are charging more money from the common man and yet they are failing to providing decent service to the customers. We keep hearing of Anti-Collision Device or Raksha-Kavach but in reality, it would be easier to spot a unicorn than to witness this functional. If Kavach was properly functional, we would not have seen so many accidents. You can be sure to witness Halley’s Comet in its specific time, but no one can assure you an accident-free commute via rail. People are being constantly fooled in all the grand ceremonious ways. Will the hon. Minister answer for how long this will go on? So many vacancies, yet no appointments. Due to the lack of employees, number of accidents keep on rising. Level Crossings are still functioning without guards. Is there an answer? None that I know. The condition of the Central Government and the condition of the Railway System are alike. Nowadays, the trains get derailed anywhere and everywhere, similarly the Central Government run by the BJP is running its course like a headless chicken and they are distanced from the people. Being highly intoxicated by partisan politics, the Budget was presented to save their own skin and to stay in power. The fall of this fickle Government is inevitable. West Bengal can be easily spotted in the Indian Map but that is not the case for the socalled “Budget Map”. We are repeatedly deprived. This question remains unsolved like a curious case before the House. People of Bengal will not slightly bear this plight. They have given an adequate reply in the Lok Sabha Elections and even in future they will respond throughly. Jai Bangla. Thanks again for allowing me to speak.
