Kalmadi assures Kerala train

PUNE , Nov 15: Suresh Kalmadi, the high profile MP who had a brief stint as a minister of state for railways yesterday assured the four lakh...

PUNE , Nov 15: Suresh Kalmadi, the high profile MP who had a brief stint as a minister of state for railways yesterday assured the four lakh Malayalee community residing in metropolitan Pune that he would try getting them a train connecting Pune with their native state Kerala.

Inaugurating a novel food festival organised by the newly formed Pune Malayalee federation at the B J Medical College ground, Kalmadi said he was aware of the serious problems faced by the Malayalee community in Pune after a large number of trains between Mumbai and Kerala were diverted along the Konkan railway. He assured them it was a genuine promise since “I have no political ambitions and anyway because he is not going to face any election in the near future,” being well-entrenched in the Rajya Sabha until 2004 A.D. Besides he has another genuine motivation.“My daughter has settled in Kochi after marriage,” he confided in the large Malayalee gathering amidst cheerful applause. “I have to do something for the Pune-Kerala rail connection”.

Kalmadi said Malayalee activists so far had been approaching him on the issue on individual basis. Now that they have come together and formed a federation, it would also enable him to take up the issue forcefully in New Delhi.

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Kalmadi was all praise for Puneites with Kerala origin. They have an immense contribution in the growth of the cosmopolitan metropolis. They have erected their lofty shrines and changed the city’s skyline. Besides, they have a major connection with the city’s ethos – Pune is regarded the country’s centre for learning and Kerala is a state that has achieved cent per cent literacy.

Malayalees are a dynamic and enterprising people, he said. In New Delhi, a large number of personal assistants to ministers and high officials are Malayalees and they have an amazing networking among themselves.

Though the Kerala food festival and ethnic cultural evening was held today, the Pune Malayalee Federation, a conglomeration of 30 existing Keralite organisations in the city, will be inaugurated on Sunday by Congress leader Sharad Pawar.

It is the common problem – sudden withdrawal of trains taking them to their home state – that brought them together. Their grievance dates back to a few months- January 1998 to be precise, when the Konkan Railway started off. This saw the steady diversion of several South-bound trains that otherwise came from Mumbai, passed through Pune and touched important stations in North Kerala. Now, they bypass Pune. As against 22 trains that were available to them in a week, only eight trains are available weekly now, thus inconveniencing thousands of Keralites who want to head to their hometown. As against 350-odd seat reservations that were available from the Pune quota, now only 80-odd seats are available, every week.

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These various organisations have been taking up the issue for the past nearly a year but all in vain. Finally they decided to make their presence felt, particularly to the politicians, by forming the federation and organising initially just an innocuous food festival and a cultural evening.

However, addressing today’s function, C Shamsuddin, president of the federation, cautioned that if their genuine demand was not met, the next phase would be confrontative – including rail rokos.