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Sir, there is an acute shortage of staff in the Railways. The hon. Railway Minister has announced that he would fill up around 80,000 vacant posts in the Railways. As a result of shortage of staff, the maintenance of rakes are not being properly done at present. Therefore, immediate steps should be taken to fill up the existing vacancies.

Sir, there is now a problem of congestion at the Howrah station. There was a proposal to increase the number of platforms. We also are expecting that construction of at least five new platforms would be sanctioned in the next year’s Budget to help ease out the congestion at Howrah Station. Delhi has five coaching terminals; Mumbai has six coaching terminals but Kolkata has only two coaching terminals. Now, a new coaching terminal at Chitpur has been proposed. But funds allocated for this project is only Rs. 13 crore. I do not know as to what work would be done with a meagre amount of Rs. 13 crore.

Sir, there was a proposal sent by the State Government for construction of a new coaching terminal at Majerhat. That coaching terminal was proposed for the South Eastern Railways so that trains running in that sector could directly go to Kolkata and from there to Majerhat which would help in the dispersal of passengers. The proposal to have a terminal at Shalimar was conceived in the 80s. After more than 20 years, two platforms only have been built. I would like to request the hon. Railway Minister that this terminal should be completed and made functional at the earliest.