Berhampur: BJD’s Ganjam district unit staged a Rail Roko at the Berhampur Railway Station here this morning protesting Centre’s negligence towards Odisha in the Union Budget-2018.
The party workers alleged while State Government had demanded Rs 6,500 crore for different railway projects in the State this year, the Centre allocated Rs 5,252 crore.
BJD further alleged that the Centre has completely ignored Odisha’s demands like the Rail Wagon factory in Sitalapalli of Ganjam district and new railway lines.
However, it may be mentioned here that Rs 5,252 crore is the highest ever budgetary allocation for railways in State till date. Last year, the Union government had allocated Rs 5,102 crore as against Odisha’s demand of Rs 5,870 crore.
On the other hand, the BJD's Sambalpur district unit staged Rail Roko at Khetrajpur Railway Station for 30 minutes protesting Centre's negligence towards western Odisha in the Union Railway Budget. Party leaders and workers led by MLA Rajeswari Panigrahi staged the protest from 8 am to 8.30 am. The Bengaluru-Hatia Express was stranded at the station for a while due to the protest.