Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa expressed happiness over the move by the Union Railway Ministry to set up the country’s first ever Rail Auto hub at Chennai and appreciated the Railway Minister for not hiking the rail fare and thus sparing the common man from burdens, though she said the budget was a disappointment for Tamil Nadu.
“The first ever Rail Auto hub to be set up at Chennai will cement the city’s position as a major automobile manufacturing centre. I am happy that the Railway Minister has spared the common man and not levied any increase in the rail fares,” Jayalalithaa said in a statement on Thursday.
She also welcomed the announcement of the Delhi-Chennai (North-South) dedicated freight corridor, but said it and the one proposed on East Coast, terminating in Vijayawada, “ought to have been extended” to Thoothukudi in Tamil Nadu. “This would have fulfiled Tamil Nadu’s long-standing request to create a Chennai-Thoothukudi dedicated freight corridor,” said Jayalalithaa. She also thanked the Railway Minister for upgradation of Nagapattinam and Velankanni stations and urged that similar steps be taken for pilgrim centres like Rameswaram.
While thanking Suresh Prabhu for the enhancement of passenger amenities, she said measures to improve redressal mechanisms were positive, too. “However, service quality and grievance redressal to the common man who may not be digitally literate nor owning a smart phone should also be ensured,” said the Chief Minister.
Jayalalithaa said she found it surprising that some of the important projects which were requested by her do not find place in the budget. She was also critical about the lacuna in the “new structure” which envisages to take up projects in States. “It is unfortunate that only a token consultation has been held with States before finalising the draft MoU which lacks clarity. The present structure where 75 per cent of the equity and the entire land cost are to be met by the States, with all control with the Ministry of Railways, is simply unacceptable,” said Jayalalithaa.