Ashwini Vaishnaw’s Reply On Rail Projects In Tamil Nadu, Kerala Has A Clear Message: 'Don't Blame Centre For Everything'

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently said railway projects in Tamil Nadu and Kerala are not advancing as expected due to issues with land acquisition.

Replying to a question by Congress Member of Parliament (MP) Adoor Prakash in the Lok Sabha, Vaishnaw said, "I would like to place on record that the Kerala government has not been very cooperative on railway projects. I request the MPs to use their good offices to get the support for land acquisition... projects can be taken up only if the state government supports land acquisition."

Giving the example of the proposed Sabari Rail project, which would make it more convenient for pilgrims to reach Sabarimala, he said that work on the rail line was affected by protests against land acquisition, court cases, and a lack of support from the state.

In the case of Tamil Nadu, the issue was mentioned in a reply to an unstarred question by Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil. 

Vaishnaw’s reply said, “Execution of important infrastructure projects falling either fully or partly in Tamil Nadu is held up due to delay in land acquisition and only about 807 hectares of land has been acquired out of the total requirement of about 2,749 hectares. 

“The Railways had initiated efforts for acquisition of land but could not succeed. Support of the Government of Tamil Nadu is needed to expedite land acquisition.”

This is not the first time that either state has got a rap on the knuckles from the Centre.

A couple of weeks ago, the Kerala assembly saw a debate between members of the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) and the United Democratic Front (UDF) over the issue of central government grants to panchayats in the state.

While the LDF held the Centre responsible, it later emerged that the state government had not submitted the details of the State Finance Commission that was necessary for the grant of funds.

On the issue of the pace of construction of national highways in Tamil Nadu, which had come up in Parliament last year, Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari had then told Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) MP Dayanidhi Maran that it was because the state government was not supplying construction materials like earth and aggregates or providing land and clearances on time.

Again, on 25 July, the central government’s reply on the pending approval for the Coimbatore and Madurai metro train projects showed that the DMK government had not submitted the mandatory Comprehensive Mobility Plan and Alternative Analysis reports.

While it is well known that the two state governments often resort to blaming the Centre, and Chief Minister M K Stalin even announced a boycott of the NITI Aayog Governing Council meeting over the trivial reason of Tamil Nadu not being mentioned in the budget, common people have begun to see through the party's propaganda.

Therefore, going beyond political rhetoric, they should try and ensure that they put their best foot forward for their state's interests.

‘Federalism’, a term the parties in power in these states keep bringing up, is only possible when the states also cooperate with the Centre.