Rairangpur: Senior leaders and workers of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staged protests on Tuesday against what they termed a “gross neglect” and “step-motherly” treatment by the Central government in the railway budgetary provisions for Mayurbahnj district in Odisha in the recently announced budget. Scores of BJD leaders and workers assembled in front of the sub-collector office in Rairangpur town of Mayurbhanj district and staged a protest.
The protesting BJD leaders and workers said that the Central government had neglected Mayurbhanj in terms of railway development. The BJD leaders and workers of Rairangpur sub-district alleged that the Central government had alloteed only Rs 1,000 for Mayurbhanj district in the current railway budget. The senior leaders of BJD lashed out at the Central government for its “unfriendly and step-motherly treatment towards Mayurbhanj”.
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Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mahanta said that Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 24, 2021 for railway development and economic growth in Mayurbhanj. The State government had promised to provide full subsidy to Bushamara Chakuveya, Keonjhar Badampahad, Gorumahishani Bangiriposhi railways.
The state government also promised to provide land for railway projects in the district. But in the current railway budget, the Mayurbhanj district has been completely ignored and allocated only Rs 1,000, said Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Mahanta. The protesting BJD workers warned that the protest will be intensified in the coming days if their demands over railway development were not met.
On the occasion, effigies of the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister were burnt by the protesting BJD workers. The BJD workers also handed over a letter for Railways minister through Mayurbhanj District Collector and Rairangpur sub collector. Moroda MLA Raj Kishore Das, former Rairangpur MLA Saiba Sushil Hasda, former MLA Bhadav Hasda, Kashinath Hembram, district council members and many leaders of different zones participated in the protest. “In the current railway budget, only 1000 rupees have been given to Mayurbhanj district and it has been completely ignored, which has disappointed for the people of Mayurbhanj," a protesting BJD leader said.
