BHUBANESWAR:
Protesting the reduction in budgetary allocation to railway projects in Odisha,
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLAs staged massive dharna in front of the State
headquarters of the East Cost Railway here in the city on Tuesday. The
legislators of BJD also sat in dharna in front of the Assembly house protesting
the Centre’s step-motherly attitude towards the State.
Hundreds of workers of BJD led by
Bhubaneswar district president Prakash
Bastia came in a procession flaunting placards bearing slogans against the
Central Government. Addressing the mass MLA Ashok Panda pointed out the
curtailment of Rs 166 crore from the budget of the East Coast Railways (ECoR)
within last five months, which has cast shadow on the fate of a host of
projects undertaken in the State.
While stating the data on
curtailment of budgetary allocation from ECoR, Panda stated that the Ministry
has deducted Rs 17 crore each from two new lines, including Talcher-Bimalagarh
and Khurda-Balangir in two different installments, while Sambalpur-Talcher
railway line doubling project lost Rs 34 crore during the last five months.
Bhubaneswar North MLA Bhagirathi
Badajena said the Centre has not only showed step-motherly attitude in railway
budgetary allocation but also in other sectors including compensation for flood
affected areas and budget allocation for KBK
plan. MLA Bijay Mohanty said the Centre has sanctioned only Rs 723 crore for
railway projects in Odisha against Chief Minister’s proposed amount Rs 2345
crore for the development of the railway in the State. Now the Railway Ministry
has curtailed Rs 166 crore which adds salt in the wound, he added.
Among others, Biju Mahila Janata
Dal president Pramila Mallick, MLA Raghunath Sahu, MLA Anant Das, MLA Jeevan
Pradeep Das, BJD general secretary Narendra Swain, Biju Yuva Janata Dal
president Babu Singh, BMC Deputy Mayor Bharati Singh, Biju Chhatra Janata Dal
president Byomkesh Ray and Biju Yuva Janata Dal general secretary Bijay Nayak
were present.
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