Opposition alleges injustice to Andhra, railway minister denies

Hyderabad/New Delhi: Minister of State for Railways K Surya Prakash Reddy Tuesday said that justice has been done to Andhra Pradesh in the railway budget but the opposition parties alleged that a raw deal is meted out to the state once again.

"Justice has been done to the state. It is not possible to satisfy everybody," the minister told reporters in Delhi. Reddy, who comes from Andhra`s Kurnool district, admitted that required funds could not be allocated for some pending projects in the state due to bad financial position of the railways. The opposition parties, however, alleged that injustice was done to the state once again despite as many as 10 central ministers and 33 Congress MPs from the state. The junior minister pointed out that the 12 new trains were proposed for the state while another 12 will pass through the state. The budget proposed nine express trains for the state while two express trains will pass through the state. The express trains are Kurnool-Secunderabad daily, Kakinada-Mumbai (twice a week), Mangalore-Kachiguda (weekly), Nizamabad-Lokmanya Tilak (weekly), Tirupati-Puduchery (weekly), Tirupati-Bhubaneswar (weekly), Visakhapatnam-Jodhpur (weekly), Visakhapatnam-Kollam (weekly) and Gandhidham-Visakhapatnam (weekly). Among the new projects announced for Andhra Pradesh include a wagon workshop at Kurnool, `Rail Neer` (drinking water) bottling plant at Vijayawada, Indian Railway Institute of Financial Management at Secunderabad and a skill development centre at Kazipet. Though Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy had not yet reacted to the railway budget, the ruling party leaders were clearly disappointed. They had huge expectations in view of the recent induction of Surya Prakash Reddy as minister of state railways. Former chief minister and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) chief N Chandrababu Naidu said injustice was done to the state even in the last railway budget of Congress-led UPA government. He said the ministers and the Congress MPs from the state were more concerned about protecting their interests. "Funds were not allotted even for the projects announced in the last budget," he said. Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) leader K Tarakarama Rao said the railway budget had neglected the state, especially Telangana region. Bharatiya Janata Party leader Bandaru Dattatreya said injustice was done to the state even in sanctioning new lines. IANS