NEW DELHI, May 16 ? In a significant development, Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar has assured that creation of the proposed Rangiya Rail Division was on tracks and that a sum of Rs 1 crore has been earmarked for the project. This undertaking was given to a delegation of Congress leaders including Madhab Rajbongshi MP and Bhubaneswar Kalita MLA, when they called on him to expedite the process of creation of the division.
Later, Sri Rajbongshi later told this newspaper that the Railway Minister assuring them that the project had not shelved gave a new lease of life by announcing sanction of fresh funds. ?He has told us that he is committed to create Rangiya Rail Division,? the MP said. Sri Kumar told the delegation that he has rejected the proposal of the NF Railway seeking Rs 19 crore for the project. The MP said that the NF Railway has submitted a demand to the Railway Board for budgetary allocation of the amount, which Railway Minister argued was not necessary as all that was required were construction of office buildings and staff quarters. He also ruled out budgetary sanction for the Project saying the amount would be met from Railways internal resources, the MP said.
The derailing of the rail division has turned into a political controversy with a section of the organisations, fighting for creation of the Railway Division, accusing the State?s MPs of adopting a casual attitude. They have held that the MPs responsible for the plight charging that they failed to effectively take up the issue in the Parliament. The creation of the Railway Rail Division, a long pending demand was sanctioned during the then Prime Minister, PV Narasimha Rao?s tenure. But it soon disappeared from the Railway radar triggering a spate of agitations. Significantly, Sri Kumar reminded the delegation that it was he who in 1998-1999 sanctioned Rs 1.20 crore for the Division during his first tenure as the Railway Minister.