By IANS,
New Delhi : The railway budget was directionless, anti-people and lacked effective measures to step up security, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said Wednesday.
“It is a directionless and anti-people budget. Without taking effective steps for ensuring security, facility and time, announcements have been made for an expensive journey,” BJP leader Mukhta Abbas Naqvi told reporters.
Presenting the budget, Railway Minister Dinesh Trivedi said safety would be the prime focus of his ministry during the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17), along with network expansion and modernisation. The railways will also increase passenger fares by up to 30 paisa per km in 2012-13 after 10 years.
“While the railway minister has announced a five-year plan for taking care of security, facility and time, the burden of increased fare has been slapped on the common man in five minutes,” Naqvi said, slamming the budget.
“There is no vision. There is no action and passenger has been raised, prices will shoot up,” added BJP leader Ananth Kumar.