Jaya appeals to PM on Salem Division of S Rly

Chennai, Mar 21 (UNI) AIADMK General Secretary J Jayalalithaa today appealed to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure full-fledged functioning of the newly-formed Salem Railway Division and not to entertain representation from Kerala to minimise functional aspects.

In a memorandum to Dr Singh, presented by the party's Rajya Sabha MPs in New Delhi, she said the railway map of Palakkad division, from which Salem division had been carved out, comprised mostly districts of Tamil Nadu like Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Erode, Salem and Namakkal.

Revenue earned by Palakkad division were in the range of several hundred crores of rupees, coming mostly from railway lines falling in the Tamil Nadu region, the Leader of the Opposition said in the memorandum, a copy of which was circulated to the media here.

With the advancement of industries, cargo transportation, passenger movement and technical development in Tamil Nadu, the need for a new railway division was a supreme necessity, she said and added the full-fledged functioning of Salem railway division had to be ensured with complete deployment of staff.

Pointing out that Palakkad division would not suffer per se by the bifurcation, Ms Jayalalithaa stressed that Salem division should have jurisdiction over the southern side from Valayar area and on the northern side from beyond Salem area.

Over 8,200 employees were required to be deployed to ensure the full-fledged functioning of Salem division, she said.

UNI