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Odisha assembly adjourned after ruckus over rail wagon factory

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Press Trust of India Bhubaneswar
Last Updated : Mar 21 2016 | 5:22 PM IST
Odisha Assembly was adjourned till 3 PM today following a pandemonium over the proposed shifting of a rail wagon factory from Narla in Kalahandi district in the state to Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh.
The issue was raised in the assembly during zero hour by ruling BJD member Amar Prasad Satpathy who dubbed the decision as an instance of Centre's negligence towards the state.
Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra of Congress also condemned the Railways decision of shifting the wagon factory from Narla to another state. He blamed Odisha MPs and alleged that the Lok Sabha members had not been able to mount pressure on the Centre for which the ministry of railways could think of shifting the proposed rail wagon factory from the state.
Mishra urged Speaker Niranjan Pujari to allow a discussion on the matter after cancelling all other business in the House.
As Pujari moved to other business, the angry Congress members rushed to the Well of the House and staged protest by attempting to climb the speaker's podium. Unable to restore normalcy, Pujari adjourned the House till 3 PM.
Ruling BJD member Samir Ranjan Dash also criticised the NDA government for its decision to shift the rail wagaon factory from Odisha to Andhra Pradesh.

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"The state government which supports NDA only get central assistance. As BJD is not part of the NDA, the Centre decided to shift the factory from the state," Dash alleged.
BJP member Rabi Naik, speaking outside the House, said no such decision has so far been taken. This was the proposal of the Railway Board and the ministry has not taken any decision.
The issue relating to the shifting of the rail project came to the fore following an RTI application.
In its reply to the RTI query, the Railways authorities had said the decision to shift the factory was taken in view of the operational benefits available at Visakhapatnam.
In the 2015-16 Rail budget, the Centre had allocated two rail projects for Odisha- one in Kalahandi and another in Ganjam.

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First Published: Mar 21 2016 | 5:22 PM IST

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