Congress questions fund source; Prabhu selling ideas, says Left

“Again, only a meagre sum has been allocated to pending projects. The intention it seems is to further develop developed areas and areas such as the Northeast, North Bengal, Bihar etc have been neglected,” he added.

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The Congress also came down heavily on the Budget. While senior leader Manas Bhuniya said Bengal has been deprived and “all papers of development thrown in the dustbin”, state party president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the Rail Minister seemed to lack
confidence.

“Why was he talking about plans for the next five years? He also agreed that there was a paucity of fund and did not stress upon FDI. This means that there was not much hope in that area,” Chowdhury said, adding that the proposal to finance Railway projects by using insurance and pension funds was dangerous.

“There is a long gestation period in Railways, which puts the money of the common people at a risk. The Modi government has failed in all the areas where it had promised development before coming to power… Now, it is trying to project that these are ideas to be taken up in the next five years,” he said.

Calling the Budget “missionless” and “visionless”, Trinamool Congress leader Sougata Roy said: “It is a brake-fail Budget with no new trains, tracks or even figures. They have hid the figures in the Parliament, which is against democracy. A negligible sum has been allotted for ongoing projects.”

State BJP president Rahul Sinha, meanwhile, while lauding the Budget, said: “While Mamata Banerjee’s Railway Budget was only about announcing new projects and laying foundation stones, this one is growth-oriented. It has been proved that Indian Railways is truly for the entire country and not only for a particular region or state.”

The proposal to install CCTVs in selected coaches and an exclusive helpline will go a long way in providing security to women in trains, he added.