Railway puts off decision
Succumbing to the mounting pressure from the state, the Southern Railway has decided to keep in abeyance the order shifting the Office of the Chief Engineer (Construction) from here.
Law Minister M Vijayakumar, who is also holding the Railway portfolio, disclosed this in the Assembly on Thursday.
Southern Railway general manager Thomas Varghese had communicated the decision to the Minister’s office.
Earlier, Thiruvananthapuram MP Pannian Ravindran also told reporters that the general manager had informed him over phone that the decision to keep the order in abeyance. The decision was taken by the Railway Board without the knowledge of the general manager, he said.
The Southern Railway had issued orders on Monday shifting the Chief Engineer’s Office to Chennai Egmore. A camp office would be functioning here. This had invited protest from various quarters.
The State Government had sent fax messages to the Centre, seeking review of the decision. Various political organisations had also staged demonstrations at the Central railway station on Wednesday.
Pannian Ravindran told reporters that the Railway decision to keep the order in abeyance was the success of the mass protest.
Leave a Reply