Leaders tear into ‘lacklustre’ budget

* Karnal residents welcome steps to revive the financial condition of the Railways, hoping that the city will get its due in future; others say the only relief is keeping fares unchanged
* Opposition claims state has been overlooked this year

Tribune News Service

Ambala, February 26

The BJP termed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu’s maiden budget presented on Thursday as a complete budget with the focus on improving basic facilities and services.

The Congress, on the other hand, dubbed it as “disappointing”, as it offered nothing to Haryana. Former minister Capt Ajay Yadav said: “The Rail Minister has failed to fulfill the BJP’s promise of introducing bullet trains. Moreover, the budget disappointed residents of south Haryana, as nothing has been provided to them.”

The INLD said the budget had failed to impress people of the state.

A proposal to increase the speed of the New Delhi-Ambala train from 160 kmph to 200 kmph and that of the Ambala-Ludhiana train from 110 kmph to 130 kmph has been a welcome step.

Besides, elimination of 119 unmanned crossing along with the introduction of CCTV cameras in women’s coaches is likely to heighten the sense of security in a state notorious for crimes against women.

chandigarh: Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar hailed the Rail Budgetm terming it as pro-passenger. “Passengers have been spared the burden of increase in fares. Besides, several facilities have been introduced for their convenience. The budget is more reformative and sensible than populist. It is aimed at bringing major changes for making travelling in trains more comfortable.”

sirsa: State Congress president Ashok Tanwar described the budget “disappointing”, claiming that there was nothing for the state. “It is for the first time that no new train or project has been announced in the rail budget. The budget’s focus is on Ahmadabad and Mumbai,” he said.

karnal: City residents welcomed steps taken by the Railway Minister to revive the financial structure of the Railways. They were, however, a bit disappointed as Karnal was overlooked. City resident Rohit Bhargava said it was a visionary budget for improving the standard of railways. He hoped that Karnal would gets its due in future. Munish Kumar, a daily commuter, said residents were hoping that the Railway Minister would announce stoppage of more trains at Karnal.

panipat: Residents of this industrial town termed the budget “disappointing”. Social activist Nem Chand Jain said the Railway Minister should have at least provided for a halt of Pooja Express in Panipat. “A train between Panipat and Haridwar should have been started,” he said.

jind: People were expecting reduction in fares due to reduced fuel prices. “The budget has left me disappointed as neither the Centre has reduced fares nor it has announced any train for the state,” said Sumit, a student.

kurukshetra: A long-pending demand for linking Kurukshetra with Yamunanagar and Haridwar remained unfulfilled this time as well. State INLD chief Ashok Arora said: “People had many expectations, but they were left disappointment. At least, the Congress pleased people by making promises, but the BJP has failed to do even that.”

gurgaon/mewat: Residents of Millennium City and Mewat district were disappointed by Prabhu’s Rail Budget. Gurgaon’s hopes of better connectivity and new trains were dashed.

jhajjar/rewari: The budget disappointed residents of both districts. The only relief being no increase in fares. “People were expecting announcement of a new line between Jhajjar and Delhi and at least one more train on the Rohtak-Jhajjar-Rewari route. But the minister disappointed us,” said Virender, a daily commuter.

(Inputs from Manish Sirhindi, Gitanjali Gayatri, Sushil Manav, Parveen Arora, Dharmender Joshi, Parvesh Sharma, Nitish Sharma, Suman Bhatnagar, Sumedha Sharma and Ravinder Saini)