While the Union Government had decided to set up a wagon factory at Kalahandi, Patnaik wrote a letter to the Ministry of Railways for shifting it to Sitapally of Ganjam district: Leader of Opposition

State given Rs 2,434-crore rail fund, says Congress

The Pioneer, March 16, 2012

Amidst the hue and cry over neglect to railway development in Odisha in the Railway Budget, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly Bhupinder Singh and Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan claimed at a news conference here that Rs 2,434 crore has been allocated in the budget against the State Government’s demand for Rs 2,345 crore.

Addressing mediapersons here, Singh said while the Union Minister for Railways allocated Rs 1,108 crore during 2011-12, the State Government failed to utilise the fund due to delay in providing land to the railway authorities for the progress of the work in the scheduled time period. Only Rs 209 crore was spent for development works.

Singh said while Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was in the Cabinet of the NDA Government, he did little for the State. While the Union Government had decided to set up a wagon factory at Kalahandi, Patnaik wrote a letter to the Ministry of Railways for shifting it to Sitapally of Ganjam district.

Harichandan said the Chief Minister is misleading the people of the State by providing wrong information on the Central Rail Budget for 2012-13. Harichandan said the Union Minister for Railways provided Rs 2,434 crore against Rs 2,345 crore demanded by the State.

The sum includes purchase of rolling stock like wagon, machinery and plants for the State. Of the Rs 2,434 crore, Rs 326 crore is meant for doubling the rail line, Rs 14 crore for Railway Vikas Nigam Limited and Rs 72 crore under PPP mode on NMDC. As a little part of Andhra Pradesh comes under the East Coast Railways, some budgetary amount will be diverted there and similarly, some parts of Odisha coming under the control of the other Railways of neighbouring States like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhyan Pradesh, would also be benefited from the fund earmarked in those States, he said.