By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR:A delegation of Odisha MPs, led by Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, today met Union Railway Minister Shri Ashwani Baishnab and submitted a demand letter to resolve the long-pending land allocation issue of the Kharagpur-based ‘Railway Employees Cultural Association’ (RECA).
The MPs have demanded that the railway land measuring about 5915 square meters in the New Settlement area of Kharagpur be regularized in the name of ‘Railway Employees Cultural Association’. This issue is more than three decades old. On March 8, 1999, the then MPs of Odisha wrote a letter to the Hon’ble Prime Minister on this issue and on March 15, 1999, the father of Union Minister Shri Pradhan, the late Union Minister Late Dr. Devendra Pradhan, also requested the then Minister of State for Railways of Kannada, Shri Ram Naik, for the allotment of this land.
The Odisha MPs have mentioned in their petition that since 1989, the association has been playing a vital role in promoting cultural unity, social welfare and Odia culture among the employees in a multilingual railway city like Kharagpur through the Shri Jagannath Temple. According to an internal report of the Railway Department, the association has been using this land for a long time and there are schools, temples and other public infrastructure there. The Divisional Railway Manager (DRM/KGP) of South Eastern Railway and other officials have already recommended regularisation of this land.
However, the non-allocation of land and the inordinate delay in it are hampering the development work of the Union. Therefore, considering this as a ‘special case’, the Odisha MPs have sought personal intervention to immediately allocate this land for the benefit of the railway employees and the general public.
Shri Pradhan said that Rekha is not limited to religious work only but is playing a major role in maintaining national unity and social harmony. If this is resolved permanently, the railway employees from different parts of the country living in Kharagpur will be particularly benefited. It is learnt that the Odisha MPs have enclosed all the relevant information with the letter.
