By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Rail services were affected at various places in Orissa Tuesday following demonstrations at railway stations by the youth wing of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) to protest the alleged neglect of the state by the central government in the railway budget.
Although the demonstrations were peaceful, railway officials said the movement of trains was affected as protesters sat on the tracks in some places for nearly two hours.
“Trains remained stuck for some time at Berhampur, Balugaon, Humma and Golanthara railway stations in Ganjam district and at Balugaon railway station in Khurdha district,” M.D. Sahu, senior public relations officer of the East Coast Railway, told IANS.
He added the normal services had resumed soon after noon.
“The central government has been deliberately neglecting Orissa for political reasons,” BJD leader Arun Kumar Sahoo told reporters.
Hundreds of activists of the Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD) shouted slogans against Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee while staging a protest near the railway station here.
“Funds for some railway projects have been reduced considerably from last year for Orissa in the union railway budget presented Friday. In 2008-09, the allocation in the railway budget was Rs.949.34 crore. This year it is Rs.715.22 crore,” Sahoo said.
“The railways earns a revenue of more than Rs.5,000 crore every year from the state but is not allocating adequate funds,” claimed another protester.