House panel on railway to satisfy over Odisha demand

By Express News Service
BHUBANESWAR: Even because the Opposition Congress has demanded that Odisha ought to search at the very least Rs 10,000 crore for railway sector in 2021-22 Union Budget, Speaker of the Assembly Surjya Narayan Patro mentioned he’ll convene a gathering of the House Committee quickly to debate the requirement of the State.

The Speaker who’s the Chairman of the Assembly Committee on Railways, nonetheless, mentioned it could not be doable for the panel to journey to New Delhi in view of the Covid-19 pandemic to submit a memorandum to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal. A call will likely be taken concerning the subsequent course solely on the assembly of the committee, he mentioned. 

The Speaker mentioned completely different Assembly committees have began assembly because the pandemic has subsided a little bit. Three committees on border dispute, energy and setting headed by him have already met over the past week. “The Railway Committee meeting will be convened soon,” he mentioned.

The State authorities, throughout the pre-budget session with Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, has sought Rs 7,200 crore for Odisha in 2021-22 price range for growth of rail infrastructure. However, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has demanded that an all social gathering delegation of the Assembly ought to meet the Railway Minister at New Delhi to put the demand.

Senior BJD legislator Amar Prasad Satpathy mentioned the committee will talk about elevated funding for varied ongoing railway initiatives within the 2021-22 price range. Last 12 months, a delegation of meeting committee had met the Railway Minister at New Delhi on February 12 to submit memorandum containing Odisha’s demand within the railway sector, although the price range was positioned on February 1. 

In 2020-21, Odisha’s share within the railway price range was Rs 4,373 crore, a lower of 27 per cent from 2019-20, when the State had obtained allocations of Rs 5,993 crore. This 12 months additionally the Union Budget goes to be positioned on February 1. A delegation of MPs from Odisha ought to meet the Railway Minister at New Delhi to submit the memorandum, mentioned OPCC spokesperson Nishikanta Mishra and added that the State authorities ought to demand enhanced funding for completion of the continued railway initiatives together with Khurda Road-Balangir railway mission.