SHRI BRIJBHUSHAN SHARAN SINGH: Sir, half-an-hour has been spent ona question in respect of Railways but mine is one-live question.
For example I would like to tell the hon. Minister that..
MR. SPEAKER: Please do not tell, ask your question.
SHRI BRIJBHUSHAN SHARAN SINGH: Sir, the same is my question. In Bombay the S.N.D.T. Women's University has selected a student for M.Sc Home Science on 20th who had nottaken the written examination held on 19th. We often receive such complaints. This is wrong and that is why the genuine students are not able to get admission and are becoming the victims of frustration. So, I would like to ask the hon.
Ministeras to what are his plans to build up future of genuine students and to put the frustration among them to anend?
SHRI ARJUN SINGH: Mr. Speaker Sir, at present I have no
information among them particu-
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lar incident. I would in form the hon. Member after collecting the information. As far as the functioning of National Evaluation Centre Organisation is concerned, action will be taken on the points referred to by the hon. member and when it will become operational fully, the admission system will definitely improve and standard of examinations will also streamlined.
[English]
Shoranur-Mangalore Railway Line
25. SHRI MULLAPALLI RAMACHANDRAN: SHRI K.M. MATHEW:
Will the MINISTER OF RAILWAYS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government have received any representations for doubling the railway line between Shoranur (Kerala) and Mangalore (Karnataka);
(b) if so, the action taken thereon;
(c) whether any study been conducted to assess the possible increase in passenger and freighttraffic on the Shoranur-Mangalore route with the commissioning of the Konkan Project; and
(d) if so, the details of the findings and the steps being taken for timely completion of the project?
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI K. C.
LENKA): (a) Yes, Sir. A request has been received from Chief Minister, Kerala.
(b) to (d) Survey for doubling of Shoranur -Mangalore line has been taken up, which will assess the traffic potential of the section including the change in pattern of traffic with the commissioning of Konkan Railway. Further action will be taken based on the results of the
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survey and availability of resources in the coming years.
SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: Sir, the Mangalore-Madras railway line is one of the oldest railway lines in India and it was constructed by britishers over a century ago. It is disappointing to note that no developmental work, as such, has been made sofar on this sector from Mangalore to Shoranur; and the Government has not taken any initiative in this connection.
MR. SPEAKER: Please come to the question.
SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: I am coming to the question.
Malabar area in Kerala is one of the backward regions in the whole of the country. It has been the persistent demand of the people from this area to double this line from Shoranur to Mangalore. Keeping in view the overall backwardness of Malabar and also the high traffic as well as the freight potential-after the completion of the Konkan Railway on this sector-may I know from the hon. Minister as to whether the doubling of this sector will be given top priority in the coming Railway Budget?
SHRI K.C. LENKA : Sir, this is about doubling of railway line between Shoranur to Mangalore. Its length is about 307 kms. In 1991, the survey was included; it could not be surveyed then because the gauge conversion programme in that area was not finalised. Now, the gauge conversion works in that area have been finalised. We have taken up the survey and we are giving the priority to compete the survey as soon as possible.
SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: Sir, time and again I have
represented to the Minister to start new trains from Mangalore to different stations. But the stereotyped answer which I have been receiving from the Ministry is that the carrying capacity on this sector has been saturated and the Railway
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Administration cannot cater to new trains at the moment. I have written to the hon. Minister about another-very important matter regarding the doubling of the lines. The hon. Minister of State, Shri K. C. Lenka has given me a reply on 27.05.1993 regarding my representation.
MR. SPEAKER Please come to the question now.
SHRI MULLAPPALLY RAMACHANDRAN: He replied that the traffic on the Mangalore-Shoranur line has not reached a level to justify its doubling. I do not know as to why this contradiction has come. Will the Minister come forward and enlighten this House on this contradiction? On the one hand,he says that the saturation point has been reached....
MR. SPEAKER: Yes. You have asked the question.
SHRI K.C. LENKA : After the Kokan Railway line has come up in that area and after the gauge conversion work has been finalised in that area, most of the lines will as covered will become busy lines and the passengers will also increase. Now,the survey is going on; after the survey is over, we will take up this work.
SHRI E. AHAMED: Sir, it is quite unfortunate to see that the Railway has neglected this area miserably. In spite of the fact that for the last one century this line was feeding the Southern Railway and old South-Indian Railway, the Railway was particularly taking a step-motherly attitude.
Sir, Railway will not be going new trains and you say that there is no sufficient number of trains, you will not give us new lines and you say that there is no sufficient traffic. What is this, Sir? Why is it so? Even in Kerala, when you have granted lines in other parts of Kerala, why this line alone-Mangalore-Shoranur area from where I am coming-has been neglected? The hon. Minister should answer. Even now the Ministry is evasive. I would like to know whether
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you are prepared to do justice to this part of the country.
The have been doing valuable service to the railway. Therefore, I wish to know what priority you have given; to doubling of this line.
Is it a top priority or the low priority?
SHRI K.C. LENKA: We have given top priority to complete the survey. This survey was ordered in 1991. I explained how it was delayed. Now we have taken up the survey work on top priority.
SHRI SUSEELA GOPALAN : Sir, the Minister himself has admitted that there is over-saturation in the railway line. Not only in Shoranur-Mangalore but also in Trivandrum-Kayanokulam line, over- saturator is there. We found that when sleeper system was strictly implemented, no addition of bogeys was possible to many of the trains and additional passenger train at shore distance was not possible because of the over-saturation of these railways lines. Only doubling is going to solve the problem of Kerala. Will the government take it seriously?
I have got a reply to my speech in Parliament also recently that it is availability of funds and all that. But I would like to say that when the question of Kerala comes, the availability of funds also comes. When Rs. 300 crore are allotted to Karnataka and Rs. 70 crore are allotted to Tamilnadu, is it not a discriminatory thing if you are allotting Rs.6 crore to Kerala?
Sir, I want to know whether doubling of Shoranur-=-Mangalore and Trivandrum-Kayanokulam has been taken up on a war-footing?
SHRI P.C. THOMAS: Please give a positive answer.
THE MINISTER OF RAILWAYS (SHRI C.K. JAFFER SHARIEF): I can
understand the anxiety and anger by the hon. Member.
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SHRIMATI SUSEELA GOPALAN: Of course, there is anger.
SHRI C.K. JAFFER SHARIEF: As every-body knows, investment is not made on the basis of States. It is based on routes. So, when any investment in lines is decide it is based on routes. (Interruptions) Even based on routes, there was a lot of investment in Kerala which no other State could get. (Interruptions) A clear picture about the gauge conversion was not there. Now that picture is available. The question of diversification of traffic to Shouranur-Mangalore will come only when the Konkan railway project traffic comes.
Besides that, your anxiety is whether we will be able to take up and complete it or not. We have now taken up the survey. By the end of the year, the survey report will be available. Before the next budget when in comes, it would depend upon the resources available. Why do we say about availability of resources? Please tell the finance Minister and the Prime Minister to make available resources so that we could be able to take up. If you only hammer the Railway Minister, nothing will happen.
SHRI P.C. THOMAS: Sir, as far as the Prime Minister is
concerned, we-all the MPs from Kerala-had met Prime Minister. Apart from meeting the Railway Minister, the Minister of State and others, we halve met the Prime Minister all together. The Prime Minister was very happy to see all the Members from Kerala coming together. He appreciated it. I do not think there will be any difficulty from his side.
It is very difficult to get a survey for any line even for doubling. But in this particular case, the survey was ordered as early as 1991. Is there any explanation for not going through the survey or progressing the ordered survey and leaving it there till, say, two years?
I would submit that this is a gross neglect. There is an urgent need to rectify this neglect. So, I urge upon the hon. Minister to give an
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assurance that this work, after survey, will be taken up immediately and it will be brought in the next budget for doubling the Shoranur - Mangalore railway line?
SHRI K.C. JAFFER SHARIEF: I categorically assure the Member that survey will be completed but so far as the work is concerned, as he gets the money to me from the Finance Minister, I will be able to take up the work.
SHRI V. DHANANJAYA KUMAR: The line is connecting my constituency, Mangalore to Kerala. All along, I have been hearing the Minister saying that a survey is ordered and that a survey is required before laying the line. We can see that this is only doubling the line and there is already an existing line and only a parallel line is required to be put. So, I do not think that any survey is required. They are only trying to postpone the laying of the line. The Minister, if he really minds, can definitely order for doubling the line. Now, under the guise of getting the survey report, they are deleting the project.
I would line to know from the Minister whether they are going to give top priority to the doubling of Shoranur-Mangalore line.
SHRI C.K. JAFFER SHARIEF: We are talking about traffic survey now.
MR. SPEAKER: He has already replied to that question.