Governments change and decades pass by but looks like there will be no end to the plight of Teluguites whenever it comes to the introduction of railway budgets. Just like all these years, the centre has once again showed its empty hand to Teluguites even this year.
The 2016-17 railway budget introduced in the Lok Sabha by minister Suresh Prabhu this morning has seen no special surprises for both the Telugu states. In fact, the centre conveniently ignored several demands of the Teluguites existing since several years.
The long, impending demands like declaring Waltair (Visakhapatnam) as a special railway zone, laying of a railway line between the Kotipalli-Narsapur route in Andhra Pradesh and the Kazipet coach and expanding the existing MMTS railway line in Hyderabad till Yadadri etc in Telangana were not even mentioned during the budget session, hinting that the centre is in no mood to consider our pleas.
On the other hand, no increase in the existing railway fares, increasing of senior citizens’ quota to 50%, offering world-class hygienic coaches and expanding the free Wi-Fi services to 400 more railway stations in the coming 2 years are some of the key highlights of the latest budget.