New Delhi, July 09: Seeking expansion of the rail
network in their home states, members in the Rajya Sabha,
particularly from Bihar, on Thursday said Railway Minister Mamata
Banerjee should work for the entire country and not for West
Bengal alone.
As the debate on the Railway Budget for 2009-10 ran
through the third day, members' demands ranged from setting up
train halts in small towns to getting a world class status for
stations in their home states.
Former Health Minister and BJP member C P Thakur said
there are apprehensions in Bihar that the projects sanctioned
by three former Railway Ministers, hailing from the state,
would now be moved to West Bengal with Banerjee at the helm of
affairs at the Rail Bhawan.
Previous three Railway Ministers - Lalu Prasad, Nitish
Kumar and Ram Vilas Paswan - were from Bihar and a slew of
projects were announced during their tenures.
"Some of the projects are in the process of being
shifted," Thakur said asking Banerjee to complete the works
underway or sanctioned earlier.
Shivanand Tiwari (JD-U) demanded that the white paper
promised by the Railway Minister should include review of the
functioning of the organisation during Prasad's tenure.
Tiwari's charge of corruption against senior officials
during Prasad's term was strongly denied by RJD members,
amidst clashes between the two pre-dominant parties from
Bihar.
Bureau Report
First Published: Thursday, July 09, 2009, 18:45