JD-U slams government's decision to do away with railway budget

The Janata Dal-United (JD-U) on Wednesday criticised the central government's move to merge the railway budget with the general budget and said it has "ruined independence of the railways".

"They were saying that they would transform the railways, but instead of transforming it they have cremated it," JD-U Rajya Sabha member K.C. Tyagi told IANS.

"They have handed over the Railway Ministry to Finance Ministry and compromised its autonomy and independence," he said, adding, "Even the structure of such a big public sector undertaking has been finished today. These so-called reforms are the result of that."

Tyagi's response came after the government on Wednesday decided to do away with a 92-year-old legacy of separate general and railway budgets by unifying them.

"The economic condition of the railways is deteriorating day by day. I was a member of the railways convention committee and have seen that the properties of the railways which were lying unused for years are now being sold. Even the freight carriages fell down," he said.

Taking a dig at the government over its failed attempt to transform the railways, Tyagi said, "Government was expecting that it would get the foreign investment of Rs six lakh crore, but no one came to invest."

"Only LIC, that is a public sector undertaking gave Rs 1 lakh crore, and none other invested. Foreign investors and other private investors stayed away," he added.

--IANS

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