Amid Bengal polls campaign, Derek O'Brien slams BJP 'tourist gang' over Railway allocation

Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Sunday has lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the budgetary allocation this year for railway projects in West Bengal, right before the assembly elections in the state. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had allocated Bengal ₹ 6,636 crore in this year's Union Budget 2021 on February 1.

The TMC leader took to Twitter that slammed the ruling party, claiming that the eastern Indian state has been deprived of Railways funds for years. 

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal had announced the allocation of railway funds in West Bengal on Twitter, saying that it is the highest ever allocation in Indian Railways. 

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Big boost to the railway sector 

Under the Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has stated that the Ministry of Railways will develop the National Rail Plan for India 2030 which aims at creating a future-ready railway system to bring down the logistic costs for industries. An outlay of Rs 1,10,055 crore will be provided for the Ministry of Railways of which Rs 1,07,100 crore has been provided for capital expenditure.

Further, she proposed Rs 1,07,000 crore for the capital expenditure of Indian Railways and announced the setting up of dedicated freight corridors across the country. FM Sitharaman also announced the government's plans to equip trains plying on the high-density networks and routes with an indigenously developed automatic train protection system that will prevent train collisions due to human error. 

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