Sharad Yadav slams Railway Minister for skipping Parliament

, Aug 14: The prolonged absence of Railway Minister

from New Delhi came in for questioning in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday with JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav taking a dig at him, saying he was not attending his office while the railways were suffering.

Yadav said the condition of railways was so bad that it required immediate attention. Raising the matter of the functioning of railways, he said during Zero Hour that tracks were in a bad state, putting at risk the lives of thousands of travellers.

Referring to Roy's persistent absence from Delhi, Yadav said, "I appeal to Mamataji (Mamata Banerjee), you call him (Roy to Kolkata) on Saturdays and Sundays and let him remain here (in Delhi) rest of the time."

Amidst shouts "where is the Railway Minister", the JD(U) leader said, "Railway Minister ko khabar kar dena, subah shaam, hum unki yaad karte hain (convey to the Railway Minister that we remember him all the time)."

Roy, a Trinamool Congress leader who was made the Railway Minister in March, mostly remains in Kolkata and generally comes to Delhi for a day or two each week during Parliament session. He has missed most of the Cabinet meetings as well.

In fact, Roy had skipped a crucial meeting held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with ministers of the infrastructure sectors on Jun 6. The meeting decided on a number of issues related to the railways, including high-speed corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Yadav said he agrees with the contention that the railways were facing resource crunch but something needed to be done as the matter concerned safety of passengers.

PTI