Didi's budget leaves state leaders fuming

Times of India, Feb 26, 2011
BHUBANESWAR: Several MPs, cutting across partylines, slammed the railway budget presented by Mamata Banerjee on Friday.


"Mamata did injustice to Orissa. Even the requests by us (Congress MPs) yielded little result," Congress MP from Kalahandi Bhakta Das said. "We had met her much before the presentation of the Budget and conveyed the state's wish list for overall development of railway sector. But the state's hopes were dashed," Das said.

Equally vocal was BJD MP Baishnab Parida. "The Railway Budget indicates the step-motherly treatment of the Centre towards Orissa. It was purely a West Bengal-centric Budget," Parida remarked.

Expressing concern over the tardy progress of the ongoing rail projects in state, BJD MP Prasanna Patsani said the Railways should act in a "time-bound" manner. "Work on the Khurda Road-Balangir and the Haridaspur-Paradip rail links has been going on since years. Mamata made no commitment regarding the completion of the projects," Patsani said.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who described the Budget as "extremely disappointing" said, "Money sanctioned for the ongoing projects is getting diverted due to non-receipt of project specific sanction and poor execution. Money sanctioned for the projects should be fully utilized."

Mamata proposed to set up a Central Organisation for Project Implementation (COPI) to ensure proper monitoring of the projects across the country. "COPI will monitor and ensure the funds allocated to different projects are fully utilized and not surrendered or diverted and projects completed in time-frame. COPI will also ensure accountability and fix responsibility for non-performance," Mamta said while tabling the Rail Budget.

Taking potshots at her, Naveen said, "The railway budget is disturbingly silent about our proposal of expanding rail network in Maoist-hit areas." BJP MP Rudranarayan Pani said, "Orissa was neglected again. Mamata gave little stress on track safety."

"Mere introduction of new trains and pro-passenger initiatives does not reflect a please-all Rail Budget. Tracks should be maintained properly and repaired in time for the safety of pilgrims," Pani said.

Meanwhile, passengers here expressed happiness as Mamata did not hike the fares. They, however, laid stress on the need to keep the train compartments and stations shipshape.