A rail picketing, which was scheduled to be held at Jaleswar to seek extension of the Howrah-Belda passenger train upto Jaleswar, was postponed as the SE Railway authorities assured that demand would be met by January-end. local traders’ associations, Bar Association and several civil society bodies had called for the demonstration.
A sudden change in the Railway Ministry’s decision on January 15 not to run the train till Jaleswar had irked residents of north Odisha. It was assured in the Parliament that the train would run up to Jaleswar. Samaj Kalyan Vikash Parishad vice chairman Sukumar Rana said, “We will wait till January 31. If the assurance is not materialized by then, we will take to the street.” Parishad chairman and former Minister Raghunath Mohanty had recently written to the railway authorities for extension of the trains.