Jharkhand reminds Lalu of his past promises

Vijay Deo Jha RANCHI Tuesday, February 26, 2008 The Pioneer

People have set a probing eye on the new Rail Budget 2008-09, to be placed on Tuesday before the Parliament by Union Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav. People and leaders cutting across party lines are eagerly waiting for what comes out for the State in the new Rail Budget, while wondering when will his last promises be fulfiled.However, the Minister has christened the Rail Budget as a basket of comfort and indicated that 26 new projects could be announced in the Budget. But people here are suspicious whether Jharkhand would be included in this or not. This suspicion is backed by a strong reason as the State got a paltry share in terms of new rail lines, infrastructural development and new trains. People are still waiting for the words of Lalu to come true which he said during the rally of the RJD, assuring a fair deal for Jharkhand in the upcoming Rail Budget.The new Budget would decide the fate of Garib Rath which has not been started so far despite the announcement to this effect a year back. The BJP has been accusing him of playing politics with Jharkhand. Anant Sinha, a trader, said that some three years back the Railways had promised to start a super fast train between Ranchi and Kolkata and the Minister had asked RR Bhandari, the then GM, on May 16, 2005 to start it. But no such train is running despite several reminders.According to the sources, the MPs of Jharkhand would press for the demand to increase the frequency of Rajdhani Express from three to four days making it at par with Patna and would ask for additional super fast express trains from Ranchi to Delhi.Formed some seven years back as a separate State, Jharkhand perhaps is the only State whose capital is not directly linked to the States of south and west India like Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune and Bangalore despite repeated request by the residents and business class of the State, which is hampering the business interests of the State. Ranchi, however, is emerging as a potential market of cloths, but the business suffers, as it is not connected to Surat.People feel that the Railway Minister was neglecting the genuine demands of Jharkhand while granting special favours to other States. Former BJP MP Dukha Bhagat said that the demand for a new rail line from Gumla to Korba was still not met, despite the assurance given by the Minister.However, the railway has six ambitious projects for Jharkhand. The State has sanctioned projects worth Rs 2,541 crore. Among the major projects are new lines like Ranchi-Hazaribagh, Koderma-Ranchi (Rs 1,028 crore), Giridih-Koderma (Rs 401 crore), Koderma-Tilaiya (Rs 307 crore) and Deoghar-Banka Sultanganj (Rs 330 crore). But no progress has been made so far and with every passing day the budget is increasing by 40 per cent.Interestingly, Jharkhand is the only State in the country that came forward to cooperate with Railways Ministry to complete projects in the State and decided to bear half of the cost of the projects which was increased to 66 per cent.Ranchi-Hazaribagh rail line, regarded as one of the important project for Jharkhand, is still a far cry and the agitated Yashwant Sinha shot a letter to Yadav demanding an inquiry into it. MPs of Jharkhand, including Ajay Maru, had raised this issue in the Parliament during a debate on the Rail Budget. Yadav is stated to have assured the leaders that the work would be completed within the stipulated time.Inder Singh Namdhari, former Jharkhand Assembly Speaker, said during the last seven years no fresh lines were laid in the State. The demand to start Patna-Ranchi Shatabdi Express was turned down by the Minister, he added.