Rail budget has not given raw deal to West Bengal: Adhir

Rejecting the charge that the railway budget is anti-people, Minister of State for Railways Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury today said it was wrong to say that Trinamool Congress-ruled West Bengal has been given a raw deal.
In an intervention during the debate on Railway Budget 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha, he said Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal does not have a magic wand to improve the health of railways, whose loss stood at around Rs 25,000 crore.
"The need of the hour is to make Railways healthy. He (Bansal) does not have a magic wand and the Minister should be given more time and more opportunities to work," Chowdhury said.

He said the state of the railways could be gauged from the fact that even former Railway Minister and Trinamool Congress leader had said that the system has gone in the "intensive care unit".
Dismissing allegations that West Bengal has got a raw deal in the budget, Chowdhury, a senior Congress leader from the state, said about Rs 10,000 crore has been allocated for three railway zones there. These include Rs 4,742.91 crore for the Eastern zone.
The Minister pointed out that eight new trains have been announced for West Bengal out of total 67 new ones in budget.

Rebutting criticism that the railway budget is "anti-people", the Minister wondered whether members raising the allegations really read the budget document.

"I think (many) honourable members are confused and need more clarity," he said.
On the allegation that the railway budget is "Rae Bareli budget", the minister said, "Rae Bareli is part of a state and the work done is in the state of Uttar Pradesh."
Ganesh Singh (BJP) described the railway budget as "directionless and partisan" and wondered how funds would be raised through the Public Private Partnership model.
He said safety and security of railways is a major concern.
Sher Singh Ghubaya (SAD) said the railway budget ignored Punjab and urged Bansal, who is from the state, to do justice.

Annu Tandon (Cong) emphasised on the need for increasing railway network in different parts of the country.
Referring to the recent mishap at Allahabad railway station during the Kumbh Mela, she said more co-ordination between railway and state authorities could have helped in averting the incident.