Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa on Thursday said the 2016-17 railway budget had failed to meet the state's expectations but welcomed some of its aspects. "On the whole, the railway budget has failed to meet the expectations of the people of Tamil Nadu," Jayalalithaa said.
She, however, welcomed Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu's announcements on setting up a rail auto hub in Chennai, a Delhi-Chennai dedicated freight corridor and upgrading two rail stations in Nagapattinam and Velankanni. The chief minister said the east coast corridor (Kharagpur-Vijayawada) ought to have been extended to Tuticorin in Tamil Nadu.
Referring to Prabhu's announcement on improving amenities for rail passengers, Jayalalithaa said they appeared to be contingent on public-private partnership taking off. "Further, many of the grievance redressal mechanisms appear to be moving exclusively to the digital platforms," she said.
According to her, the quality of service and grievance redressal to the common people who may not be digitally literate nor own a smartphone should also be ensured and not confined to only those who are active on the social media.
