Junior minister dismisses Mamata's railway jobs plan to land-losers
27 Nov 2012
On his first comprehensive railway assignment in the state after taking over as minister of state, Adhir Chowdhury said the railways could not provide jobs to land-losers, even as the state government had to acquire land for projects.
The comments are seen to be aimed at chief minister Mamata Banerjee over two of the most complicated issues that Bengal faces, land acquisition and compensation.
Dismissing the proposal of jobs to land-losers that Banerjee made during her stint as railway minister, as absurd as it would hurt the transporter's growth and hurt its funds, he added he would take the land acquisition problem to the PMO as projects were stuck not only in Bengal but across various parts of India.
Referring to Banerjee's hands-off policy on land acquisition, which the industry viewed as a major hurdle to investment in the state, Chowdhury said, railway projects would suffer if land was not available. He added, the state government had to acquire land for that purpose and it was also not possible to give employment to people giving land for rail projects.
The remarks by the minister came on the occasion of the 150th anniversary celebrations of Kanchrapara railway workshop before his visit to Kolkata where he inaugurated the Metro's interface at Garia with the suburban railway network and tunnelling work for East-West Metro's Sealdah-Phoolbagan stretch.
He said if employment was to be given to those giving land, then around 2 lakh jobs would have to be given in Eastern railway alone, posing an impediment to the railways' development plans.
Dismissing speculation that railway projects in the state announced by his predecessors belonging to Trinamool Congress might be stalled, Chowdhury said, none should think that West Bengal would suffer and it would be seen how the railway projects and factories could be implemented.
He added it would be the ministry's priority, but a balance would have to be struck between resources and projects and due importance would be given to all the states.