Sheohar: A youth registered his 'righteous indignation' by carrying out a novel protest against the Railway Minister for allocating just Rs. 1,000 budget for the Sitamarhi-Bapudham Motihari rail project in Bihar's Sheohar district. The youth identified as Aryan Chauhan wrote a cheque for Rs 1000 and sent it to the Minister to show his objection.
The local public are also upset over the allocation of a paltry Rs 1,000 to the 76-km-long Sitamarhi-Bapudham Motihari rail project via Sheohar which was taken up at an estimated cost of Rs. 204 cr. The project was conceived during former railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav's tenure and started in 2007. People were hoping that the long drawn project will see the light of the day. But all their aspirations were dashed after the recent budget.
Read: Metro projects in UP, Gujarat, Bihar to be completed by 2024: Centre
Expressing anger over this, Aryan said, “It's a sheer mockery. We will not tolerate such discriminatory approach by the railway ministry. If the matter is not resolved then youth of area will resort to mass agitation. Allocating peanuts for the Sheohar rail project reflects the mindset of the Central government. Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi once visited this region and took up cudgels against the Britishers from here. The Union government has insulted Bapu also by making provision of only Rs 1000 for the ongoing rail project."
"The Union railway ministry's bipartisan approach for Bihar's Sheohar region will not be tolerated any longer. Now the time has come to unite and fight for our cause. Oppositions leaders of the area should also come together. Sitting MPs and MLAs should resign en masse as a mark of protest against this discrimination," said Aryan.
Aryan further said that MP Rama Devi has been representing the region in Lok Sabha for the third consecutive time but people were disappointed as they expected a lot from her. She will face people's wrath in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he said.
As per the original plan of the Sitamarhi-Bapudham Motihari rail line, they should take up construction of 10 railways stations, including two junctions, three halts and five railway crossings. Had the project finished on time, Sheohar district would have been connected to the main rail route by now.
