Ram Naik lambasts Paswan

Referring to news reports about the railway minister’s Vapi visit and his subsequent statements, Naik clarified the World Bank in its letter dated March 20, 1997 to the principal adviser of the Central Planning Commission had clarified the reason why the World Bank decided to drop loans to MUTP-II. The letter states: “In the light of lack of specific timely actions and responses mentioned in the earlier, the bank has been left with no option but to drop the project in its present form from the current lending programme.”

Naik further said the minister is trying to pass the buck to the state government, adding that instead of doing what has been agreed upon to improve the suburban system, the minister appears to be more interested in indulging in political gimmickry by blaming the state government. He mooted the idea of a joint meeting of Prof Ram Kapse, Paswan and himself with Prime Minister I K Gujral at the earliest to solve problems faced by Mumbai’s commuters.

Replying to a question about the role of the proposed rail development corporation for Mumbai, Naik said the ministry of railways is yet to get the proposal approved from the Government of India. Only after the proposal is approved can the corporation be formed. However, he added the primary role of the corporation would be to gather finances for the smooth operations of railways in Mumbai by floating public issues, among other things. The rights of maintenance of tracks and signalling will lie with the railways itself, he asserted.

Naik has appealed to Paswan to play a positive role in solving commuters’ problems and asked him to refrain from politicising the issue.