Railway Budget Evokes Mixed Reactions In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: The Railway budget allocation for Odisha for the year 2021-22 has evoked mixed reactions in the state.

Talking to media, Commerce and Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said the state had demanded Rs 7,200 crore of which Rs 3,500 crore is for the pending projects and Rs 3,700 crore for new projects. However, the Centre allocated only Rs 4,500 crore of which only Rs 500 crore has been allocated for the ongoing Khurda-Balangir railway project.

Refuting the Centre’s announcement that it has allocated Rs 6995.58 crore crore for different railway projects in the Union Budget, he said in the list of the railway projects prepared by the Centre, many completed projects are mentioned only to increase the number.

Stating that there is a meagre fund allocation for projects like Talcher-Bimlagarh (Rs 10 crore), Jeypore-Nabarangpur (Rs 15 crore) and Jeypore-Malkanagiri (Rs 28 crore), the Minister said there is no budget allocation for new railway projects like Puri-Konark, Bargarh-Nuapada, Chakulia-Buramara, Jajpur-Aradi-Dhamra etc.

Also Read: Odisha Seeks Rs 7200 Crore From Centre For Railway Projects

In his reaction, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik said the Centre has again ignored Odisha as the budget allocation has been made for the ongoing projects while there is no allocation for the new projects.

“While the Centre has sanctioned more allocation to West Bengal and Tamil Nadu keeping the ensuing Assembly elections in view, it has ignored the requirement of Odisha in the development of railway sector as the state has not presented its demand properly,” Niranjan added.

Reacting to the statement of Niranjan, BJP state general secretary Golak Mohapatra said Odisha had received Rs 4,232 crore during the 10-year tenure of Congress-led UPA government while the BJP-led NDA government in the last six years has allotted Rs 29,112 crore.

the statement of the Commerce and Transport Minister, Mohapatra said that the ongoing railway projects in the state are not completed in time due to inordinate delay in the land acquisition which has been mentioned by the Railway minister Piyush Goel in his recent letter to the state government.

“The completion of the railway projects depends on the handover of the land. As the land acquisition is the lookout of the Odisha government, it should expedite the process,” he pointed out.

Also Read: 26.41% Rise In Rail Budget For Odisha