3 more Railway Divisions

THE HINDU Today's Paper » NATIONAL   Gulbarga, February 23, 2014

Railways sanction three divisional headquarters

Special Correspondent

A formal order will be issued in a couple of days

 

Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday announced that the Railways would sanction three railway divisional headquarters — for orderly development of its network — here, in Silchar, Assam and in Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir. A formal government order will be issued in a couple of days.

Making the announcement at a function here to mark the inauguration and laying foundation stone for different railway projects, Mr. Kharge said he had discussed this with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in detail and he had agreed to the proposal. “I made this announcement in the Rajya Sabha on Friday.”

The demand for the establishment of the Railway Divisional headquarters in Gulbarga has been pending for the past three decades. In 1984, the Sareen Committee appointed by the Railway Board recommended the formation of the Divisional Railway Headquarters here. However, the panel’s recommendations were not implemented for reasons not known.

In subsequent years, whenever the issue of the formation of the divisional headquarters came up for discussion, the Railway Board and the Ministry rejected the demand, saying it was not economically viable.

To be functional in two years

The new headquarters is expected to be functional within two years after conducting public hearings, hearing objections, and transfer of officials from different zones to the proposed divisional headquarters.