The interim Railway Budget, throwing in just a weekly express train to New Jalpaiguri from Ranchi and a word of appreciation for the Jharkhand Government for sharing costs of the ongoing railway projects, disappointed the State for yet another year.
Most people of the State expected Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge to announce new trains to cities like Ahmedabad, Secunderabad, Indore and Bangalore. But all he did was to offer a weekly train to New Jalpaiguri and a passenger train from Tatanagar to Chakulia. There was no new plan for expansion of railway infrastructure in the State, which contributes around 40 per cent to the Railway’s total revenue. Passengers and frequent travellers said this year’s Rail Budget was worse than last year’s and described it as ‘unjust’ Budget for the Ranchi railway division as they cannot connect with other parts of India especially South India.
A resident of Bariatu housing colony Subhash Yadav who came to receive his relatives at Ranchi Railway station expressed his dissatisfaction, “It was the need of the hour to start new trains for these routes. We have only one direct train to Mumbai (lokmanya Tilak Express) and Bangalore (Hatia- Yashwantpur Express) which is often overcrowded. During festive season people make beeline even for tatkal quota.” Meanwhile, other demands like equipping the railway stations of Namkum, Tatisilwai and Silli, with facilities, halt of Dhanbad -- Alleppy express train at Silli station and increasing the safety and security of passengers by installing CCTV cameras in Rajdhani Express have also been turned down.
“Railways always talk about safety and security of passengers as their prime focus but it is shameful that no strong action has been taken in this direction by the Government,” added Somya Agrawal, a local resident. Students have also flayed the Minister for not announcing any concession for them going outside the State for taking admission. “The Government should provide some concession to the students,” said Hitesh Kumar.
The Opposition, expectedly, lambasted the Congress-led UPA for ignoring the State. Criticising the Railway Budget, former Chief Minister Arjun Munda said, “It reflects the failure of the UPA Government as it cannot carry out its own decision. In the previous Budget, they had assured to introduce new trains for Mumbai and Bangalore route. Moreover, the Budget has kept the passengers deprived of required facilities in trains as well as railway stations.”
“We are very disappointed by the Railway Budget. We had not expected such a degree of neglect by the Centre,” Munda maintained. State BJP president Ravindra Kumar Rai said, “There exists a regional imbalance in the produced budget. The Railways receives maximum revenue from State like Jharkhand yet it is being ignored.” Passenger and trade organisations, too, could not hide their disappointment, dubbing Kharge’s Budget as the harshest in the last few years. Federation of Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce and Industries (FJCCI) president Bikash Singh said, “We are very disappointed with the Budget. For the last two years Jharkhand has been constantly neglected by the Minister of Railways. “
Jharkhand Passengers’ Association Secretary Prem Kataruka said, “Jharkhand has once again been cheated by the Minister of Railways in the Rail Budget. I strongly feel that the MPs and MlAs of the State are responsible for this as because of their failure the residents remain deprived of basic necessities.” Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee President Sukhdev Bhagat, however, expressed his happiness over providing the two new trains for Jharkhand.