Ahmedabad/New Delhi

Participating in the discussion on the railway budget in Rajya Sabha on March 16, 2015, Member of Parliament Mr. Parimal Nathwani raised railway demands of Gujarat and Jharkhand. Apart from demanding upgradation of railway infrastructure and more trains for Gujarat and Jharkhand, he suggested a way to bring out railway from poor financial situation by setting up a tariff regulatory commission on the line of TRAI, CERC etc.

Mr. Nathwani said that since Jharkhand being his Karmabhoomi and Gujarat being his native, he would put forward demands of both the states before the House. Dwarka is one of the four main pilgrims of the country and an announcement for developing Dwarka as a model railway station was made a long back, but no progress has been made in this direction so far, he said.
Six new districts have been formed in Gujarat and there is a need for development of infrastructure in these new district head-quarters, he said and added that there is only one railway platform in Jam Khambhalia, which is head-quarters of newly formed Dev Bhoomi Dwarka district. “People come with a stool to board on and board off trains, which is very pitiable situation,” he said. He also displayed photographs showing plight of the passengers using stools to board /de-board the trains.

Expressing concerns over deaths of lions on 100km railway track passing through Gir forest, Mr. Nathwani appealed to the railway minister to speed up the measures to protect lions from being killed on the track. He said Govt. of Gujarat has discussed protective measures with railway authorities and provided budget also. The railway ministry is yet to take any action on the same. “I request the railway minister to pay attention to this demand and save precious Asiatic Lions,” said Mr. Nathwani.

He drew attention of the house towards the fact that the nascent state of Jharkhand contributes about 11% of revenue to the railways but there is hardly any provision for the state. Mr. Nathwani said that six railway projects are pending since 2002. Further, the sated and raised demand to start some new trains to and fro Jharkhand. “The coaches of Rajdhani train are deteriorated. Moreover, Rajdhani runs only two days. Therefore, Rajdhani train should be run on all seven days with new coaches,” he said. He demanded new trains between Ranchi/Jamshedpur and Surat, Ranchi and Mumbai, Ranchi and Ahmedabad. The railway minister should also focus on developing Hatia, suburb of Ranchi, as a model railway station, he said.

Mr. Nathwani stated that railway tariff is a political issue, so on one hand railway is reeling under financial pressure, demand for better amenities is increasing on the other hand. “Therefore, a Railway Tariff Regulatory Commission should be set up for regularizing tariffs on the line with telecom regulatory and electricity regulatory authorities,” said Mr. Nathwani.

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