Ranchi: A delegation of senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders of the state led by former Chief Minister Arjun Munda and state BJP leader Dr Ravindra Rai met Union railway minister Sadanand Gowda and Minister of State for railways Manoj Sinha on Wednesday and demanded early completion of various pending projects of the railways in Jharkhand. They also demanded train services from the major cities of the state to different parts of the country.
Munda told the railway minister about the high expectations of the people of the state from the railway ministry. He said the people of the state expected new train services and better facilities every year ahead of the Union railway budget. But repeatedly, the people here are disappointed due to cold attitude shown to them by the Central government, he said.
The BJP delegation apprised the minister of the various issues related to the railway services in the state and the need to complete the pending rail projects in the state in the larger interest of the people. The party leaders said the people were once again hopeful that railway services would be enhanced in the state since the BJP regime had taken the reins of the government at the Centre with the appointment of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister.
The main demands raised by the BJP leaders included demand for train services from Jamshedpur to Ranchi, new train service for Dehradun via Lucknow, train service from Ranchi to Hyderabad via Nagpur, Ranchi to Indore via Bhopal, Ranchi to Ahmedabad via Surat, Ranchi to Trivendram, daily superfast train from Jamshedpur to Chennai, New Delhi-Ranchi Duranto Express, train service from Giridih to Kolkata, superfast train service from Dumka to New Delhi, Kolkata and Ranchi and train service from Noamundi (Barbil) to Tatanagar.
The BJP leaders also demanded railway hospitals, more facilities for passengers including physically challenged passengers and setting up of a 100 bedded hospital and a trauma centre in Sini and other parts of the state.
Several suggestions were made to the Union railway ministry on behalf of the BJP state committee for the improvement of services in the state.
The railway minister assured the BJP leaders of taking initiative with regard to their demands. He said the Central government would take the necessary steps to carry out various pending projects of the railways and accommodate the suggestions made by them.
The other party leaders who met the Union railway minister included the MP of Jamshedpur Vidyut Varan Mahato, MP of Chatra Sunil Singh and MP of Palamu BD Ram.
They further demanded that the railways should provide employment opportunities to local people by extending the railway factory in Sini and construct the proposed 38 railway over bridges in the state.
