Lalu neglects Orissa: BJP

New Delhi, Feb 26 (UNI) Orissa has been neglected in the Railway budget presented by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad, said BJP Vice President and former Union Minister Jual Oram here today.

Despite having a surplus of Rs 20,000 crore, the Ministry did not make any provision for either a new railway line or any new train, said Mr Oram, the Lok Sabha member from Sundergarh.

Former Union Railways Minister and Congress leader Bhakta Charan Das said the Ministry could have sanctioned more funds to the state which was neglected for several decades.

The projects to double the lines between Sambalpur-Puri, Raipur-Titilagarh and other routes would give the much-needed boost to the economy of the state, he said.

The frequency of Rajdhani Express and Samta Express should have been increased as demanded by the people, said Mr Das, the former Lok Sabha member from Kalahandi in western Orissa.

The budget had made provision of around Rs 450 crore for the state, which was about Rs 75 crore more than the allocation in the last budget.

The budgetary provisions for ongoing projects are insufficient.

The pace of release of the funds would take another decade for completion of these projects, he said.

The Garib Rath introduced between Ranchi and Puri would not serve the purpose of the people of the state, he said.

He, however, welcomed the increase in frequency of Puri-Ahmedabad train.

The budget has made provisions of Rs 97 crore for Koraput-Rayagada(Rs 2 crore), Talcher-Sambalpur(Rs 3 crore), Lanjigarh Road-Junagarh(Rs 12 crore), Khurda Road-Bolangir (Rs 20 crore), Haridaspur-Paradeep(Rs 20 crore), Talcher-Bimlagarh (Rs 15 crore), Daitari-Banspani(Rs 15 crore), Anugul-Sukinda Road (Rs 12 crore).

But the projects would be needing more than Rs 1000 crore for their completion, said Mr Oram.

The budget has made provision of Rs 10 lakh for the purchase of staff quarters from the Bhubaneswar Development Authority(BDA) at Rail vihar and Chandrasekharpur.

Similarly for electrification, doubling, track renovation and other development works in the state have been grossly negelected, Mr oram said.

UNI