harkhand Passengers Association (JPA) Chief, Rajendra Kumar Saraogi and Secretary Prem Kataruka have written a letter to Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnav and Railway Board Chairman, Vinay Kumar Tripathi in which a demand has been made for the formation of a new regional headquarter South-East Western Railway (SEWR) at Jharkhand level.
Both the office bearers of JPA have written that the demand for the zone is being made for a long time, but it is not being taken seriously by the Railways. In such a situation, the association has prepared a complete blueprint of why the zone should be created here and sent it to the Railways. They said that the railways would set up a new regional headquarters in Ranchi, to give justice to the backward and deprived states. “At the same time, the formation of the proposed area will not only improve the condition of railways in Jharkhand but will also prove beneficial in terms of achieving the goals of national development,” they added.
Jharkhand came into existence with its capital Ranchi on 15 November 2000 after being separated from Bihar. All the contiguous states of Jharkhand like Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh have at least one Zonal Railway Headquarter headed by General Manager but not in Jharkhand. When the new state of Telangana came into existence, a new regional headquarter South Coast Railway was formed by the Ministry of Railways and Railway Board. Indian Railway receives revenue of more than Rs 25 thousand crore rupees annually from Jharkhand.
255 railway stations of different divisions proposed under the proposed new regional headquarter South-East Western Railway fall in the boundary of Jharkhand. Dhanbad Railway Division can cover railway lines in Dhanbad, Garhwa, Palamu, Chatra, Koderma, Giridih and Latehar districts. At the same time, Jasidih Railway Division can cover the railway line in Deoghar, Dumka, Godda, Pakur and Sahibganj districts whereas Ranchi Railway Division will cover railway line in Ranchi, Gumla, Khunti, Lohardaga, Ramgarh and Bokaro districts. Apart from this, Chakradharpur Railway Division will connect railway lines in West Singhbhum, Seraikela Kharsawan, East Singhbhum and Simdega
districts.
The letter to the Railways said that by restructuring the existing areas and creation of a new area, Jharkhand would be able to provide Dhanbad- a coal hub, Chakradharpur-an iron ore and forest products hub, Jasidih- a stone quarrying center and pilgrimage center. And Ranchi education, coal and bauxite hubs will help in getting economic benefits. Jharkhand is such a major State that despite the availability of natural beauty, good health friendly climate and abundant mineral and forest wealth, there is no regional railway headquarter. Even after 75 years of independence, the development of railway infrastructure in Jharkhand has not been at par with the neighboring states having regional railway headquarters.
Birla Institute of Technology, Indian School of Mines, XLRI, Medical College and reputed educational and medical institute of Jharkhand State. CIP, Rinpas are important medical institutions. Apart from Jharkhand, the needs of the people of the whole country are met. Apart from coal, minerals are mined from Jharkhand. There is a need for better connectivity and efficient infrastructure for transportation of critical resources from the point of view of safety and security, which only the Railways has the capacity to fulfill.