Taking strong exception to the cut in the railway budget, the youth wing of the BJD, Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD), has threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the Centre did not restore the original budgetary allocation for 2012-13.
Going against the principles of federal system, the Centre is creating one obstacle after another in the path of Odisha’s development, BYJD president and deputy government chief whip Sanjay Dasburma told mediapersons here on Friday.
Dasburma said while development of railway infrastructure is urgently required for industrialisation of the State, the Centre has again shown anti-Odisha attitude by slashing ` 220 crore from the budget allocated to the State.
The BYJD president said development of railway infrastructure in tribal-dominated Balangir and Kalahandi districts has become uncertain with this budget cut. It will also further delay the completion of Talcher-Bimlagarh new railway line project and doubling of Sambalpur-Talcher, Jharsuguda-Rengali and Delang-Puri railway lines, he added.
Stating that the East Coast Railway (ECoR) earns Rs 10,000 crore from the State every year, Dasburma alleged that in comparison very negligible amount is spent on development of railway infrastructure here.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had demanded a minimum allocation of Rs 2,345 crore in the railway budget for 2012-13 and a house committee headed by Speaker Pradip Amat had also made a similar demand, he said.
Dasburma informed that the former railway minister, Mukul Ray, had assured the Chief Minister that the original allocations in the budget will be restored without any cut. But without keeping the promise, the Railway Ministry has again slashed it by Rs 34 crore, he said and added that this will greatly affect the development of railway infrastructure in the State.