Rail minister Mukul Roy slammed for missing Parliament

New Delhi: The prolonged absence of Railway Minister Mukul Roy from Delhi came in for questioning on Tuesday in the Lok Sabha with JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav taking a dig at him, saying he was not attending his office while the railways is suffering. Yadav said the condition of railways was so bad that it requires immediate attention. Raising the matter of the functioning of railways, he said during Zero Hour that tracks were in bad state, putting at risk the lives of thousands of travellers. Referring to Roy’s persistent absence from Delhi, Yadav said, “I appeal to Mamataji (West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee), you call him (Roy to Kolkata) on Saturdays and Sundays and let him remain here (in Delhi) rest of the time.” Amidst shouts “where is the Railway Minister”, the JD(U) leader said, “Railway minister ko khabar kar dena, subah shaam, hum unki yaad karte hain (convey to the Railway Minister that we remember him all the time).” Roy, a Trinamool Congress leader who was made the Railway Minister in March, mostly remains in Kolkata and generally comes to Delhi for a day or two each week during Parliament session. [caption id=“attachment_417963” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Mukul Roy. AFP[/caption] He has even missed most of the Cabinet meetings. In fact a crucial meeting held by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with ministers of infrastructure sectors on June 6 was skipped by Roy. The meeting decided on a number of issues related to the railways, including high-speed corridor between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and Dedicated Freight Corridor. Yadav said he agrees with the contention that the railways is facing resource crunch but something has to be done as the matter concerns safety of passengers. PTI