Lalu' Railway Budget Gets Mixed Reaction
Patna: Feb. 26, 2007
Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, on Monday, presented his 2007-08 railway budget with more lollipops for the travelers from Bihar than ever before with six new trains initiating from the state including the third so-called 'Garib Rath' that would ply between Patna and Howrah.
Other new trains for Bihar include daily Intercity Express plying between Patna and Dehri-on-Sone, weekly Bhagalpur-New Delhi Express, Bhagalpur-Banka passenger train, weekly Chhapra-Gorakhpur Jansadharan Express, and tri-weekly Motihari-Varanasi Express.
There has also been a marked increase in the frequency of trains already plying between Bihar towns and other parts of the country.
While Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express will now leave Patna Junction six times a week instead of twice a week, Patna-Pune Express will double its run each week from two days to four days.
Yadav also announced setting up of a Rs. 1,300 crore locomotive factory in Chhapra that is expected to generate thousands of new employment in the state.
Reacting to the latest railway budget, former Bihar Chief Minister and the leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly, Mrs. Rabri Devi showered her husband with praises for 'giving Bihar so much'.
 "He is the best ever Railway Minister who did not ignore any section of the society in his latest budget," Rabri Devi said in Patna.
In a sharp contrast to Rabri Devi's euphoria, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar sort of ho-hummed the entire railway budget saying the budget 'showed the weaknesses' of the Railway Minister.
"The budget completely ignores the convenience of the passengers or security on running trains. The Railway Minister is also misleading the people by saying the railways had incurred astronomical profit under his leadership whereas the fact is the Indian Railways was never running in loss. He has manipulated the data to show the profit. Because of the strong economy, railway traffic in India has increased but Lalu Prasad Yadav is taking all the credit for it," Kumar said.
"As for the railway locomotive factory in Madhepura, only time will tell if it meets the same fate as the railway parts factory in Harnaut in Nalanda district," the Chief Minister said.
 Meanwhile, dozens of coolies at Patna Junction, following the announcement of the new railway budget, staged a dharna at the station chanting anti-Lalu slogans saying the budget had no provision for them and the Railway Minister had gone back on his promises he made earlier.
"He had promised to include us in the Class IV railway employees category, free pass to family members, health insurance, and education for our children but he failed to keep his words," the leaders of the Patna Junction Coolie Association said.
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