Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said that the Centre was ready to resume railway services in Punjab if the Chief Minister Amarinder Singh could assure that no damage to the railway property and the railway staff would be done by the protesting farmers in the state.
Talking to the 22-member BJP delegation led by national BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh and Punjab BJP president Ashwani Sharma which called on him on Thursday, the Union minister said that the Ministry of Railways had already requested the Punjab Government to get the rail track and railway properties cleared of the agitators so that the Railways can resume both goods and passenger services at the earliest.
The minister said he was aware that in the ongoing festival season people in the state are facing hardship due to railway-line blockades.
“While the Chief Minister had failed to discharge his constitutional duty of maintaining law and order, the common man is reeling under great economic stress, industry has virtually come to a standstill while shortgae of fertilizers and pesticides has affected farmers who are keen to carry on their farming”, said the delegation members.
They requested the Union minister for immediate redressal of the ongoing crisis by taking an undertaking from the state government for security and protection to start the goods and passenger trains with immediate effect.
The delegation also included Union ministers Hardeep Singh Puri and Som Parkash, among others.