Kerala Congress (M) demands separate Rail budget again

New Delhi: Kerala Congress (M) on Monday urged the government to bring back a separate Railway Budget, a 92-year-old practice that was put to an end this year.

Participating in the debate in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President's address, the Kerala Congress (M) MP Jose K. Mani said, "The government without holding discussion with the members of the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha decided to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget."

"I want that the government should bring back a separate Railway Budget again," Mani, who has been elected from Kottayam in Kerala, said.

The Railway Budget was merged with the Union Budget and was presented by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on February 1.

In September last year, the Union Cabinet had decided to merge the Railway Budget with the Union Budget, putting an end to the practice of separate Railway Budget that started in 1924.

Participating in the debate, Bhagwant Mann, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP from Sangrur in Punjab criticised the government over the its decision of scrapping Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes.