Restarting Goods & Passenger trains a fillip to Punjab’s Industry : Sunder Sham Arora
Hails decision of farm unions to allow trains in larger public interest, urges Centre not to overlook farmers and listen to their issues sympathetically
Hoshiarpur, November 25, 2020 : Punjab Industries and Commerce Minister Sunder Sham Arora on Wednesday described the restarting of rail transport especially the goods trains as a big succor to the state industry which would certainly put the industrial and financial growth of state back on track.
Thanking Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and farmers’ unions for ensuring rail transport operations in the region, the Minister said that the running of trains would accelerated the tardy pace of import and export business too, which was necessitated without any further delay. He said that the State Industry was facing several crises due to suspension of rail services since last week of September but now the restarted operations would prove to be an end of all problems being faced by the industry besides providing a major relief to other allied sectors, farming, labourers, passengers etc.
In a fervent to the Union Government, the Minister said that these trains should be plied on Punjab’s tracks without any break as Punjab’s industry had already suffered a huge loss of over Rs. 40,000 crore so far. The shipment of industrial material, delivery of import and export products/goods through road transport is not at all viable for all stakeholders but with trains back on track, the State would witness a massive industrial growth, said the Minister adding that the material needed to industry, farming and other sectors would be reaching in the state through goods trains in coming days.
Expressing gratitude towards the farm unions for allowing the goods and passengers trains in larger interests of Punjab and its people, the Minister also urged the Union Government that if the Center is not doing away the MSP then why the same cannot be given in written for which the country’s peasantry was struggling these days. He said that more than 50 percent of the country’s food grains were being produced by the Punjab’s farmers and the Union Government should not overlooked the immense contribution of state’s farmers. He also asserted that the Centre should immediate hear the issues being raised by the farm unions sympathetically by holding a dialogue on all issues besides resolving them at the earliest in larger public interest.
