~~~~~~RAM VILAS PASWAN About J&K, NORTH EAST in Budget Speech 1997-8~~~~~
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3. Even after fifty years of independence, be it the north east regions of Tripura, Mizoram,
Nagaland, Manipur, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh or Sikkim, railways have not reached these States.
Similarly,...
more... Kashmir also does not have any railway line. The region of Bihar adjoining Nepal and Uttrakhand
are also backward as far as railway network is concerned. In my opinion, it will not be possible to develop
rail infrastructure in these backward regions as long as financial viability of a railway line is the norm and
these regions will continue to remain backward.
4. Keeping these in view, our Government in the last nine months have decided to construct
Udhampur - Baramulla railway line in Jammu & Kashmir State and Kumarghat - Agartala, Lumding - Silchar,
Harmuti - Itanagar and Bogibeel Bridge on Brahamaputra river in North East region. We are also providing
sufficient funds for completion of these projects. We are making a provision of Rs.400 cr. as against Rs.220
cr. for the last year. This is the highest ever provision made for new lines. More than Rs.300 cr. have been
allotted for development and expansion of rail infrastructure in North Eastern States alone. More than
Rs.100 cr. have been provided for expansion of railway line in Jammu & Kashmir this year. Similarly, we
have provided increased outlays as far as possible for the backward regions of different States. Details of
these provisions have been given in the Pink Book.
