In what appears to be politics of favouritism, Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav favours rehabilitation of those on the North bank of the river Ganga whose land was acquired for the Patna-Digha rail line connecting the new Ganga Bridge. He wants to provide job to one person per displaced family on the North Bank.
But he is reportedly not keen on a similar compensation package for the displaced families residing on the South bank.
While South of the river falls in the Patna South Lok Sabha constituency represented by RJD MP Ramkripal Yadav, the North of river Ganga under Saran district falls in the Chapra Lok Sabha constituency represented by Mr Laloo Prasad himself.
It was reliably learnt that Mr Laloo Prasad favoured such "exceptional " compensation for the affected families in the North because they comprised his electorate. For the South, despite the voters having elected another RJD MP, Mr Ramkripal Yadav, the minister was not willing to do so.
Sources in the Revenue and Land Reforms Department of the Bihar Government said they received a letter from the administrative department of the Railways requesting it to identify and subsequently advise the ministry on the exact figures of the displaced persons on the north bank of the Ganga .
According to the letter, this would help the Railway ministry to provide job to one person per family for affected people on the North Bank.
From: Tribune News Service, DEC-02,06
