Recalling Satyajit Ray’s film Pather Panchali’s magical scene of an on-coming train, encapsulating the spirit of Indian people and their aspirations, Derek O’Brien of Trinamul Congress today commenced the Rajya Sabha debate on the Indian Railways, and took to task the government for neglecting Bengal in the 2020-21 Budget.

He said the Modi Government had broken a 92-yearold tradition of not presenting separate Railway Budgets for the last three years. The working expenditure of the railways had risen by 32 per cent, while net revenue receipts were down by 78 per cent since 2014-15. The railways used to pay to the Government of India annual dividend of Rs 7000 to Rs 8000 crore, but for the last two-three years, it had not paid any amount because of the amalgamation of the railway and General Budgets, he said.

The growth of freight used to be four per cent before 2014 and it has come to one per cent during the BJP Government, he added. The Railways now spends Rs 110 to earn Rs 100, and this expenditure used to be Rs 90 to Rs 95 earlier. The Government has to assure the House that there would be no privatisation of the railways, as “sell-India” appeared to be the trend, O’Brien said.

The government was selling PSUs, and it must tell what it had done with the Rs 60,000 crore taken from the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). Speaking in Bangla, O’Brien said the railway Budget had shamelessly deprived Bengal of its due. There was provision of just Rs 1000 crore for several projects announced for Bengal.TMC president and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee sat on a hunger strike for 26 days because the party would not allow any grabbing of farmers’ land, he said.

He said the Government talked of cooperative federalism but did not invite the chief minister to the inauguration of the East-West Metro corridor recently. “Was it because she is your political opponent,” he said. O’Brien said the railway minister must tell in his reply what allocations had been made for the non- BJP States.

The government was spending Rs 180 crore for each km of the Bullet Train Ahmedabad- Mumbai route. Comparatively, the dedicated freight corridor cost just Rs 24 crore per km. What should be the priority, he asked. The Government must give the time when the Bullet train would be ready. The railways must consider social responsibility with economic viability.

He said the Ministry must talk to railway officials on the formation of the Indian Railway Management Service, and said the administrative and technical cadres should be kept separate. There were 2.8 lakh vacancies in the railways. G V L Narasimha Rao (BJP), who spoke next, said the government had proposed big investments to expand infrastructure in the Indian railways.