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PCC leader’s plea for all-party meet to take up railway projects with Central government

PUDUCHERRY: Secretary of the Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee V.P. Abdul Rahman on Sunday appealed to the government to call an all-party meeting to evolve a strategy to highlight the importance of taking up new railway projects linking the Union Territory with other parts of the country.

In a memorandum to Chief Minister N. Rangasamy, he said the Union Territory’s development had been hampered by a lack of rail link between Puducherry and other parts of the country. Though Information Technology-based industries had started migrating to Tier-II cities such as Coimbatore, Madurai, Tiruchi and Salem, they had not come to Puducherry, he added.

Mr. Rahman expressed anguish at the IT industries not choosing Puducherry as their destination, despite the region having good potential for establishing such units.

As the scope for air link was limited, owing to space constraints, the only option left was promoting rail connectivity, he said.

The all-party meeting, if convened, would enable the government to take a delegation to Delhi to meet Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad before he finalised the Railway Budget to discuss issues relating to inclusion of the rail link projects, he added.

Mr. Rahman pleaded for introduction of services, including Shatabdi Express linking Puducherry with Chennai and trains connecting Puducherry with Mangalore and Bangalore three days a week initially to promote trade, industry and tourism in the Union Territory, besides generating employment.

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