Odisha asks Indian Railways to restore budgetary allocation

"I strongly protest against the step-motherly attitude of the Railways to Odisha. I further request you to take immediate steps to restore the budgetary allocation made for Odisha for the year 2012-13," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Railways Minister Mukul Roy.

Stating that the authorities have reduced an amount of Rs 186 crore from the budgetary allocation to different projects in the state, Patnaik said that Indian Railways earned revenue to the extent of Rs 7,500 crore in the last financial year.

Railways had allocated only Rs 723 crore against the state's projected total demand of Rs 2,345 crore for different projects in 2012-13 budget. "Now suddenly again the Railways have announced this reduction which will go against the interest of the state," Patnaik said.

Odisha, which was in the midst of a rapid industrialisation, required different railway projects to facilitate industrial climate in the state, he wrote in the letter.

Reduction in the budgetary allocation would greatly hamper the industrialisation process and hurt the common mam in creation of passanger amenities at different railway stations, Patnaik said.

The state government also asked the Railways to commission Khurda Road-Puri section (doubling) before Lord Jagannath's Nabakalebar Fesitival in 2015. MORE