Member Parliament from Sangrur Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer on Wednesday raised the issue of the Rajpura-Chandigarh rail link in Lok Sabha to connect the entire Malwa region with the state capital Chandigarh through rail. Participating in the debate on a rail-related bill in the House today, Meet Hayer said that rail is the cheapest, easiest and best means of transport which benefits the common man the most.
Even after 77 years of independence, the people of the Malwa region are not directly connected to their capital by rail, for which only Rajpura and Chandigarh need to be connected. He said that the central government refers to the demand for land acquisition and if land can be acquired for building highways, then why not for government rail service?
Raising another important issue Meet Hayer said that the concession given to senior citizens and sportspersons was stopped during the Covid period. These should be resumed and students should also be brought under its ambit. Meet Hayer also said that no high-speed rail passes through the Barnala-Sangrur area, which is why this demand needs to be fulfilled soon.
Meet Hayer further said that after the country's independence, only 15 thousand more rail lines were laid, which is very less. Rail is the backbone of India. Just as the government is keen on privatizing other government institutions including ports, we are of the view that rail should not be sold to private hands.
He said that the government had promised cheap air travel under the UDAN scheme, which was not completed. Therefore, rail is the only cheap and convenient means of transportation for the countrymen, for which strengthening the railway network is most important.