MP counters Modi, accuses Centre of neglecting SR

CHENNAI: Madurai MP Su Venkatesan on Sunday said that many projects of Southern Railway are continued to be neglected compared to Northern Railway.

In a statement, the CPM MP, denied Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s claim that railway projects in Tamil Nadu are being allocated more funds since 2014 when BJP came to power at the Centre and Rs 6,000 crore in this fiscal year. “There is a huge difference between the statement of the Prime Minister and the railway’s Pink Book which details budget allotments of projects,” he said, referring to the PM’s speech on Saturday.

He said that a total of nine new line projects in Tamil Nadu, including the Rameswaram-Dhanushkodi new line project and the total funds required for the project is Rs 11,400 crore. “These projects have been ongoing since 2006-07. Only Rs 211 crores have been allotted till 2020. Last year I criticised the allocation of a mere Rs 1,000 for each project for 2021-22 and 2022-23. I met the Railway Board chairman in this regard. In 2023-24, the railways have allocated Rs 1,000 crore,” he said.

Pointing the meagre allocations made to the line doubling works, he said that Rs 8,322 crore has been allotted to the Southern Railway in 2023-24 and of which Rs 6,000 crore has been allocated for the projects in Tamil Nadu alone. “This is a welcome one,” he said.

Venkatesan said that on average Rs 2,900 crore has been allocated every year between 2014-15 and 2022-23. “Even during the previous regime, the same amount of the fund has been allocated,” he said. He alleged that Tamil Nadu has been treated unfairly in the fund allocations for completing railway projects for the last 16 years.

“It cannot be denied that many projects of Southern Railway are constantly being neglected as compared to Northern Railway. I request to end the discrimination and continue to allocate adequate funds to Southern Railway,” he demanded.