Protest in Orissa against Negligence of State in Budget

Protesting against discrimination against the state in Union Budget, BJD workers held a two-hor ‘rail roko’ agitation, affecting train services in Orissa.

Officials said that the perturbed BJD workers stopped at least half a dozen trains at several places including Balugaon, Khurda Road, Berhampur and Jharsuguda during agitation at railway stations.

The agitators blocked rail tracks at major stations in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bhadrak, Balasore, Berhampur, Sambalpur and Khurda, raising slogans against the budget.

Claiming that the budget ignored the interests of Orissa, BJD general secretary Narendra Swain said that only Rs 715.22 crore had been allocated as against last year’s Rs 949.34 crore.

BJD leaders pointed out that although the Railways earned a revenue of over Rs 5,000 crore from Orissa every year, the budget did not make suitable allocation for the state, which had demanded at least Rs 1,520 crore this year for development of rail infrastructure.

A senior leader said that a number of routes and projects linked to economic development of Orissa had got negligible allocations as Mamata Banerjee, the Railway minister, ignored the demand of the state for expansion of the railway network.