Charging the Railway Minister with "manipulating" figures to "purposefully" mislead Parliament in her latest budget speech, a CPI(M) member has moved a privilege motion against Mamata Banerjee.
Maintaining that the privilege of the House had been violated, Rajya Sabha member P Rajeeve alleged "manipulation and false statement on the achievement targets of the Railways during the presentation of the Railway Budget 2011 by the Minister".
He said while Banerjee had said in her budget speech that 700 kms of new lines had been laid, the Finance Ministry's Mid-Year Analysis 2010-11 said it was only 59 kms.
Similarly, the Minister claimed 700 kms of doubling, 1,000 kms of electrification and 800 kms of electrification had taken place during the year, the Finance Ministry document maintained that these were 55 kms, 203 kms and 140 kms respectively till September 2010, Rajeeve told reporters.
"It is rather interesting that these herculean figures of 641 km of new lines, 645 kms of doubling, 797 kms of electrification and 660 kms of gauge conversion has been achieved between September and March, in a country where the annual average for laying new lines is only 180 kms", he said.
The CPI(M) MP also said the budget and the revised figures for total passenger earnings for 2010 was pegged at Rs 26126.47 crore.
"It is virtually impossible to predict accurately the volume of passengers who would travel or the amount they would spend on it. How is it physically possible to predict exactly till the last digit the exact revenues that can be earned."
Same was the case for figures relating to freight loading revenues, Rajeeve said, alleging this was "a clear case of manipulation".
He said the Minister had said in her budget speech that Railways already had a network of 37,000 kms of optic fibre cable and work on another 12,000 kms was in progress.
"But in Page 31 of the Yearbook of the Railway Ministry, which was circulated with the budget documents this year, it is stated that as on March 31, 2010, only 35,268 kms of optic fibre cable has been commissioned", Rajeeve said.
Noting that Banerjee had reiterated these figures in her speech, the CPI(M) MP said it "throws light on the fact that the Minister has committed violation of privilege of this House, which mandates immediate action" and sought the Rajya Sabha Chairman's permission to raise the issue of privilege.
At a press conference here, CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Railway Minister has "misled the House and the nation" by giving out wrong information.
To a question on changes in the Left Front's candidates' list and induction of large number of new faces, he said, "We have always made changes. During the last assembly polls, we had changed 131 candidates. There are a very few parties which take such courageous decisions."
Maintaining that the privilege of the House had been violated, Rajya Sabha member P Rajeeve alleged "manipulation and false statement on the achievement targets of the Railways during the presentation of the Railway Budget 2011 by the Minister".
He said while Banerjee had said in her budget speech that 700 kms of new lines had been laid, the Finance Ministry's Mid-Year Analysis 2010-11 said it was only 59 kms.
Similarly, the Minister claimed 700 kms of doubling, 1,000 kms of electrification and 800 kms of electrification had taken place during the year, the Finance Ministry document maintained that these were 55 kms, 203 kms and 140 kms respectively till September 2010, Rajeeve told reporters.
"It is rather interesting that these herculean figures of 641 km of new lines, 645 kms of doubling, 797 kms of electrification and 660 kms of gauge conversion has been achieved between September and March, in a country where the annual average for laying new lines is only 180 kms", he said.
The CPI(M) MP also said the budget and the revised figures for total passenger earnings for 2010 was pegged at Rs 26126.47 crore.
"It is virtually impossible to predict accurately the volume of passengers who would travel or the amount they would spend on it. How is it physically possible to predict exactly till the last digit the exact revenues that can be earned."
Same was the case for figures relating to freight loading revenues, Rajeeve said, alleging this was "a clear case of manipulation".
He said the Minister had said in her budget speech that Railways already had a network of 37,000 kms of optic fibre cable and work on another 12,000 kms was in progress.
"But in Page 31 of the Yearbook of the Railway Ministry, which was circulated with the budget documents this year, it is stated that as on March 31, 2010, only 35,268 kms of optic fibre cable has been commissioned", Rajeeve said.
Noting that Banerjee had reiterated these figures in her speech, the CPI(M) MP said it "throws light on the fact that the Minister has committed violation of privilege of this House, which mandates immediate action" and sought the Rajya Sabha Chairman's permission to raise the issue of privilege.
At a press conference here, CPI(M) Politburo member Sitaram Yechury said the Railway Minister has "misled the House and the nation" by giving out wrong information.
To a question on changes in the Left Front's candidates' list and induction of large number of new faces, he said, "We have always made changes. During the last assembly polls, we had changed 131 candidates. There are a very few parties which take such courageous decisions."
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