Stalin expressed his discontent over the drastic cut in budget allocation for Southern Railways. Responding to the charge, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that it is more than seven and half times average funding given during the UPA regime.
Stalin, in a letter to the Railway Minister, said, “We are disappointed that the allocation of funds for the Southern Railways under certain Heads of Accounts in the Regular Budget for Indian Railways for the financial year 2024-2025 is much less when compared to the allocations made in the Interim Budget in the same year.”
In fact, Stalin pointed out, the figures in Interim Budget for 2024-25 provided Rs.976.1 crore for new lines and Rs.2,214.4 crore for doubling of lines.
“But the revised allocation in the regular budget presented by the government on July 23 was Rs 301.3 crore for new lines and Rs 1,928.8 crore for doubling of lines,” the DMK chief said.
Taking these criticisms on record, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw replied to Y: "Would like to bring the following facts to the notice of Hon'ble CM Thiru (M.K. Stalin). The NDA government has allocated a record amount of Rs 6,362 crore for developing railways in Tamil Nadu.
“This amount is more than 7 times the average allocation done in the UPA era (only Rs 879 crore per year).”
He also said: “In our constitutional structure, land is a state subject. Projects can be executed speedily if only your government supports us in land acquisition. Only 807 hectares of land has been acquired so far against a requirement of 2,749 hectares.
“We seek your intervention in land acquisition. From our side, we promise that if you take one step, we will take two steps for the development of railways in Tamil Nadu.”
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