Date:17/08/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/08/17/stories/2007081755591100.htm

Karnataka

Railway Minister to to discuss pending projects

Special Correspondent

A State team calls on Lalu Prasad, Basudeb Acharia
Reorganisation of zonal areas to be studied

GULBARGA: Railway Minister Lalu Prasad has said that during his scheduled visit to Bangalore in September first week along with the Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Railways Basudeb Acharia all the pending issues pertaining to the development of the Railways in the State would be discussed for finding a permanent solution.

State secretariat member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) Maruti Manpade told presspersons here on Thursday that Mr. Prasad himself gave this assurance to a delegation led by FKCCI President S.S. Patil, members of the Gulbarga Central University Establishment Action Committee, in which Mr. Manpade was a member, in New Delhi on August 13 and 14.

He said the delegation raised several issues, including the pending railway projects, creation of new railway division and reorganisation of the Railway zones with the Minister and Mr Acharia.

Mr. Manpade said the delegation, which met Mr. Acharia, apprised him of several pending projects, including the Gulbarga-Bida and introduction of new trains from Gulbarga to Bangalore.

Mr. Acharia, who heard the team, said the Standing Committee on the Railways would take a serious note of the pending railway projects in the State.

He said the committee was seized of the matter of reorganisation of the railway zones and redrawing the borders of jurisdictional areas.

He said that Mr. Acharia had convened a meeting of the general manager of the South Western Railways with the representatives of the FKCCI and CPI(M) in Bangalore on August 18 where all issues pertaining to the pending projects would be discussed.

Central University

Mr. Manpade said the delegation had called on the senior officials and Central leaders on the demand for establishment of the Central University in Gulbarga and the revelation by the senior officials of the Higher Education in the Human Resource Development Ministry that the State Government had not sent any proposal on central university came as a shock to the delegation members.

He said the senior officials of the department said unless the State Government sent the proposal and committed itself to allot the required land for other infrastructure facilities, it would be impossible for the Centre to go ahead with the proposal for the establishment of the Central University in Gulbarga.