The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : MPs raise Salem rail division issue with Prime Minister

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 22, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

MPs raise Salem rail division issue with Prime Minister

Special Correspondent

"Railway Board approved the proposal only after scrutiny by all the wings of Railways"

NEW DELHI: Separate delegations of Members of Parliament belonging to the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam-led Democratic Peoples' Alliance and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry called on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday to brief him on the controversy over the Railways decision to create a new division at Salem.

Pointing out that the division was formed in continuation of the announcement by Railway Minister Lalu Prasad in last year's budget, the DPA delegation said the Railway Board had approved the proposal only after scrutiny by all the wings of the Railways. Commercial interests of the Palakkad division had not been compromised.

Pat for Lalu

They complimented the Board and Mr. Lalu Prasad for taking utmost care to protect the interest of both States while ordering the formation of the division. There was no justification for altering the areas under the Palakkad and Salem divisions as suggested by the Kerala Government and its MPs.

"Neither Tamil Nadu nor Kerala is, in any way, affected. It is the decision of the Railway Board taking into account the administrative and operational efficiency of the divisions."

The AIADMK delegation also maintained that because of the bifurcation, the Palakkad division would not be affected.

The need of the hour was to speed up formation of the Salem division.

"Various wings like engineering, commercial, etc., of the Railway division are yet to commence functioning. A time limit of not more than a few weeks has to be set for its full-fledged functioning."

The delegation said while forming the division, transfer of personnel from the Palakkad division should be avoided.

Discrimination alleged

The AIADMK MPs said the new division was necessary also because the Railway Board had been keeping the needs of Tamil Nadu on the backburner for decades.

Tamil Nadu continued to be discriminated against by the Railways with regard to conversion of single lines into double lines, conversion of metre gauge into broad gauge, and electrification. New lines, conceived decades ago, were yet to be even surveyed, a memorandum said.

The MPs handed over a copy of the letter from AIADMK general secretary J. Jayalalithaa to the Prime Minister recently on the subject.

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