Karnataka - Belgaum   

Railways neglecting State, says Rajasekharan

Belgaum: Union Minister for Planning M.V. Rajasekharan has criticised officials in the Ministry of Railways for ignoring infrastructure proposals sent by the Karnataka Government.

Addressing a meeting of party workers at the District Congress Committee office here on Sunday, he said the programmes implemented by the Railways had been limited to North India, neglecting other parts of the country.

Despite repeated pleas from the State, no concrete response had been received to its proposals. Thus, the expansion of the railway network, including introduction of facilities and services were being delayed.

He also argued that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Government in Tamil Nadu, despite having seven Ministers in the Union Government, had been siphoning off the lion’s share of railway projects.

Mr. Rajasekharan said the Centre had planned to establish more than 1,000 universities in the next 13 years in accordance with India Vision 2020. Stating that it had accorded priority to education and healthcare, he said that Indian Institutes of Technology would be established in rural areas in the near future to ensure that students from backward areas also benefited from quality education.

He said India was the only country in the world where 12 crore children were being served midday meals, in 9.50 lakh schools nationwide.

Later, he held a meeting with district officials at Circuit House and reviewed progress made in various schemes in the district.

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