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| BJD launches rail-roko agitation in Orissa against Railway budget |
| Press Trust of India / Bhubaneswar Jul 07, 2009, 13:22 IST |
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Train services were affected in Orissa today after BJD workers held a two-hour 'rail roko' agitation to protest against alleged discrimination against the state in the recently announced Railway budget.
About half-a-dozen trains were stopped by BJD activists at several places, including Balugaon, Khurda Road, Berhampur and Jharsuguda during demonstrations at railway stations, officials here said.
The demonstrators blocked rail tracks at major stations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Khurda, raising slogans against the budget.
Claiming that the budget ignored the interests of Orissa, BJD general secretary Narendra Swain said only Rs 715.22 crore had been allocated as against last year's Rs 949.34 crore.
BJD leaders pointed out that although the Railways earned a revenue of over Rs 5,000 crore from Orissa every year, the budget did not make suitable allocation for the state, which had demanded at least Rs 1,520 crore this year for development of rail infrastructure.
A senior leader said that a number of routes and projects linked to economic development of Orissa had got negligible allocations as Mamata Banerjee, the Railway minister, ignored the demand of the state for expansion of the railway network.
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