4 days ago
Six years on, no date yet for the operationalisation of SCoR
A date for the operationalisation of the South Coast Railway (SCoR) Zone, which was declared by the Centre six-and-a-half years ago, has not been decided yet, said Railway Board, replying to an Right to Information (RTI) query.
Responding to the question, raised by Gembali Praveen Kumar of New Karasa in the city, the Board said on Sunday (August 10): 'the exact date for issue of gazette notification of new SCoR Zone, which will inter-alia include date of operationalisation and jurisdictional boundaries of its divisions, has not been finalised yet.'
According to Railway trade union leaders, politicians from North Andhra, who are supposed to protect the interests of the State, generally don't understand the intricacies involved in the functioning of the Railways and are being 'misled' by Ministers and officials in the Railway Ministry with replies such as: 'The Prime Minister has already laid the foundation stone for the SCoR Zonal Headquarters,' 'General Manager (GM) has already been appointed,' and 'A fresh DPR has been approved for the zone.'
The foundation stone for the zonal headquarters was laid by the Prime Minister in January, but it will take at least two years for the construction of the building. A GM was appointed for SCoR a couple of months ago, but the divisions to be brought under SCoR – Visakhapatnam (Waltair), Vijayawada Guntur and Guntakal – continue to be under the control of East Coast Railway (ECoR) and South Central Railway (SCR) till the gazette notification is issued.
'Though a decision has been taken on the boundaries of the new zone, the endpoint of one zone and the starting of the other has to be demarcated. After this, a gazette notification has to be issued. The new GM will not have any power till a gazette notification on the zone is issued by the Government of India,' said Ch. Sankar Rao, general secretary of SCoR Mazdoor Union.
'The GMs of ECoR and SCR will not have any interest on the early operationalisation of SCoR as they would have to forego a part of their area under their control apart from losing revenue. It is here that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, whose party is in alliance with the BJP-led alliance at the Centre, should exert his influence on the Prime Minister and the Railway Minister,' he added.
