New Delhi, December 17: Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee today said it was unfair to call Indian Railways the “biggest smuggler” of cattle and wildlife.
Reacting to BJP member Maneka Gandhi’s remarks in the Lok Sabha that Railways were transporting cattle and wildlife by trains to West Bengal for onward smuggling to Bangladesh, Banerjee said if the member had a specific complaint, the Ministry would look into it.
The Minister objected to Gandhi’s remarks during Question Hour saying, “I have respect for the member. But the comment is unfair.”
On cargo handling, she said the Railways had incentives for freight forwarders, benefitting traders.
She said the freight schemes were “user-friendly” and cargo was booked on the basis of a fowarding note executed by consignors.
“We want full loading of goods trains,” she said, adding, “to promote rail-road integration, Railways have schemes and provisions like Rail-side Warehousing Complexes developed by the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) and container operators including Container Corporation of India Limited (CONCOR) and incentive scheme for freight forwarders.”
Various other schemes for rail-road integration are under examination, she added.
–PTI