Rajya Sabha returns Railway Appropriation Bills

New Delhi, Mar 14: The Rajya Sabha today returned The Appropriation (Railways) Vote on Account Bill, 2007, and The Appropriation (Railways) Bill, 2007, despite uproar during the reply by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad.

The House returned the two Bills amid protests by opposition members against the Railway Minister's ''inadequate response'' to some issues raised by them, including employment, electrification and gauge conversion.

Earlier the House was ajourned twice amid pandemonium over the Minister's comment on ''extortion'' during the previous NDA regime.

The house was first adjourned for 15 minutes and then again for 30 minutes as the opposition members were on their feet, demanding that the Railway Minister withdraw his charge of corruption against the previous NDA government.

The Railway Minister listed several steps his Ministry was initiating for a complete turnaround of the Indian Railways. These include shifting congestion from the existing lines to dedicated ones, preparing a fessibility report for fast trains in metros, including Mumbai and taking effective steps for electrification, construction of bridges etc.

UNI