Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu asks MPs to help Railways, gets booed

A posse of security forces from the Railways greets Members of Parliament MPs visiting suburban railway stations Indian Railways also spends to make lavish arrangements for the stay and other requirements of MPs as per protocolampamplta hrefhttppolldaddycompoll8683957ampampgtHow would you rate the Rail Budget 2015ampampltaampampgtHowever when Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu asked the same MPs to use part of their funds for the development of Indian Railways yesterday it seemed as if he had touched a raw nerve for they began shouting to make their displeasure knownAlso read A railway budget to bring Mumbai back on trackRailway Minister Suresh PrabhuThis was one of the highlights of the Union Rail Budget presentation yesterday and it raised questions about the MPsrsquo reservations to the idea Halfway through his speech Prabhu asked MPs to help the Railways by using part of their Member of Parliament Local Area Development MPLAD funds to develop stations and other railway facilitiesThis is when several MPs most of them from the Opposition began shouting ldquoNo no nohelliprdquo ldquoWe have increased the funds allotment for passenger amenities by 67 per cent I request all corporates NGOs charitable institutions and religious institutions to come forward and invest generously for passenger amenities from their CSR fundI also request all MPs to use part of their MPLAD funds to improve facilities at railway stationsrdquo said Prabhu in his speech While many MPs booed Prabhu some others had contributed even before the railway budget Prabhu mentioned the names of MP Gopal Shetty from North Mumbai constituency and MP P C Mohan from Bengaluru CentralShetty had given Rs 15 crore from his MPLAD funds Each MP gets around Rs 23 crore annually while Mohan had given Rs 1 crore to develop amenities for railway passengers ldquoThe rail minister appealed to us for donating MPLAD funds for general development of railway stationsSo I gave the money around a month ago When Prabhu himself asks Gopal how can Gopal refuserdquo Shetty told midday He added that he would like to see toilets and FOBs being constructed level crossings being shut and fences being placed along tracksPrabhu also hinted at taking the help of MPs in resolving local land issues for railway projects and spreading the message of cleanliness Sources said the Railways is looking at appointing private agencies on contract for maintaining cleanliness at stationsTowards this end a highlevel official from the Railway Board in Delhi is expected to come to Mumbai where 18 suburban stations are expected to be identified for the same