V. Abdurahiman, Minister-in-charge of Railway Affairs in Kerala, has asked the Union government to desist from the move to disband the Palakkad railway division.
In a letter to the Union Railway Minister on Sunday, Mr. Abdurahiman said the move to disband the Palakkad railway division was another example of the Centre’s continued neglect and vindictiveness towards the State.
Rise in revenue
Despite the division registering a rise in footfall and revenue, the move to disband it without pointing out any reason could only be construed as a move against Kerala. Already, the State had been facing gross neglect from the Centre in terms of rail development, and the new move was another blow to the State, the Minister said.
The Salem division was started after carving out the Palakkad division during the tenure of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. Since then, there had been a planned move to weaken the Palakkad division. There were attempts to weaken the division by making it a part of Mangaluru. It was after strong protests from the State that the Centre dropped the proposal, said the Minister.
‘Misleading people’
While the Centre was nurturing a hostile attitude towards Kerala in all areas, the United Democratic Front (UDF) MPs had failed to raise a banner of protest against the Centre. A Union Minister from the State was trying to mislead the people by putting up falsehoods, he said in a statement.
The Centre should stop the neglect towards Kerala in terms of track doubling, allocation of new tracks, and new trains to the State. There would be strong public protest against the Railways’ continued neglect towards Kerala, he said. The State would stand united against the move to disband the Palakkad division, he said.
