THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding the cancellation of rail coach factory at Palakkad in Kerala and asked him to reconsider the decision.
In the letter, he reminded the Prime Minister the Railway Budget 2012-13 had sanctioned the setting up of a rail coach factory at Palakkad under a joint venture/PPP with a sanctioned capacity of 450 coaches. The project was sanctioned after repeated deliberations between the state government and the Centre, Chennithala said.
“The project failed to take off despite the state government acquiring 439 acres of land five years ago. Railways already paid `32.44 crore for the land acquisition. In the early 80s, the state was allocated a coach factory but it was shifted to Kapurthala in Punjab,” Chennithala wrote.
EAM’s intervention sought
Ramesh Chennithala wrote to External Affairs Minister(EAM) Sushma Swaraj regarding Maldives’ failure to renew the work permit and issue new job visas to Indian nationals. He sought the EAM’s urgent intervention on the issue. He told Sushma certain political developments had resulted in the non-renewal of the work permit.