TMC slams BJP over issue of allocation of funds for rail projects in WB
Kolkata, Feb 07 (PTI):
The TMC on Sunday accused the BJP government at the Centre of depriving West Bengal of rail projects over the last few years, and said allocations have been made only for some projects in Union budget 2021-22 with an eye on assembly elections in the state.
Senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal minister Shashi Panja told reporters here that nominal financial allocations have been made for the state’s railway projects, which were announced earlier, while BJP-ruled states are getting the lion’s share of funds for railway works. “While presenting the Budget, the BJP government makes allocations based on the fact whether a state is going for elections or not. Eastern states, including West Bengal, have been deprived since 2016-17, and some projects have been announced in the 2021-22 budget with the assembly polls in mind,” Panja said at a press conference at the TMC headquarters. She claimed that the BJP government has announced some new railway line projects for Kolkata-headquartered South Eastern Railway for 2021-22 in the election season, after having ignored it since 2016-17. The minister also claimed that the Metro Railway projects in and around Kolkata are facing inordinate delay in completion, and have been granted a total of Rs 1,330 crore for 2021-22 since the elections are round the corner in West Bengal. Assembly polls are due in the state in April-May this year.
The allocation of Rs 6,636 crore to West Bengal is the highest-ever funds earmarked for the state in the history of Indian Railways, minister Piyush Goyal had said soon after the Union budget was announced, blaming successive state governments for the delay in rail projects in the state.
