Rail Budget 2013: Singhbhum trade bodies sore about budget

JAMSHEDPUR: Rail users of the Chakradharpur division, the leading revenue earning unit of the railways, have expressed disappointment with the budget.
The Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), which had met railway minister Pawan Bansal earlier with a request to start new trains from Tatanagar to Jodhpur via Jaipur, to Hyderabad and also a superfast train to Nagpur, found to their dismay that none of their requests was accommodated in this year's budget."The entire division has been left out. It is utterly disappointing," said Ssecretary Bharat Vasani.
Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee member Suresh Sonthalia said "Despite his candid no to new train plea (from Tatanagar) because of lack of resources, we were hopeful of at least one express train (from Tatanagar)."
The representatives of the ancillary units in Adityapur who have been for long lobbying with the railways to make them partners in the growth process have also expressed displeasure with the rail budget.
"Our request to the (railway) ministry for opening an office of the RDSO (research design and standards organization) remained unheeded in the new budget," said Adityapur Small Industries Association general secretary Santosh Khetan.
The local ancillary units, in need of spreading wings, have been pleading with the railways to promote rail based industry in Singhbhum. The freight charge hike of 5% in the new budget has also come under sharp criticism from the traders' bodies.
"The freight hike will end up hitting the common consumers. Prices of several commodities like steel and cement shall go up as transportation will become costlier," said Vasani.
However, not everybody is disappointed. Bansal's debut budget has announced commissioning a railway overbridge (ROB) project at Jugsalai level crossing in 2013. Besides, Ghatshila and Chukliya stations in the district have also been identified for upgrade. The two stations will be upgraded to model stations. "I am happy that the minister has incorporated ROB project in the new budget. It was a long pending demand," said MP Ajay Kumar in a release.
Budget 2013 > Rail Budget 2013 > Economic Survey 2013