By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) activists Wednesday staged demonstrations near different railway stations across Odisha complaining of the state’s neglect in the railway budget for 2013-14.
Led by BJD youth wing president Sanjay Das, the activists staged a demonstration outside the railway station here, shouting slogans agasint the central government and the railways. Similar protests were held in Cuttack, Sambalpur, Rourkela and Berhampur.
The protesters demanded greater attention to the state like new train services and greater allocation of the railway budget announced Tuesday.
“The central government has been neglecting our state deliberately. Our state gives more than Rs.14,000 crore per annum to the railways but the allocation made to us in the current budget is only Rs.869 crore,” BJD youth wing general secretary and spokesperson Bijay Nayak told IANS.
“We did not disrupt train services. We organized peaceful demonstrations across the state,” Nayak said, adding the protests would continue on Thursday.
The protests came a day after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik described the budget presented by Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal as disappointing.