It is question whether National Interest is important or individual or a group of person's interest is more important? Actually Land Acqusition bill (national interest) has fallen pray to politics of vested interests.
It was the UPA1, which brought land bill which was supported by opposition NDA. The then MoR Mr Lalu Prasad himself took credit and stated that it was brought in to accelerate development in nation by facilitating quick land acquisition for implementation of infrastructure projects (esp IRlys, highways) and industries.
UPA2 annulled the above bill , and the then MoR...
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Mamata Banerjee stated that not a single piece of land will be acquired for any project, disregarding the needs of nation. Under her tenure, IR suffered maximum damage through extremely populist schemes like Izzat pass i.e. Rs 25 per month pass for unlimited travel upto destinations 100kms apart! It is would be interesting to know how many izzat passes were issued in which state. Most of the Investments that should have gone to ease chocked trunk lines and earn more profits for IR were diverted to expand Kolkata Metro which shall be financially bleeding IRly by further 1000s of crores of rupees every year. She did reap a lot of political benefits and won next WB election with thumping majority.
Then Mr Modi lead coalition (NDA) won next election on planks of development. Most of the projects were found stuck up because of cumbersome and difficult land acquisition process. Feeling urgency the NDA tried to pass the land acquisition bill, which was toppled with the whole opposition getting united and fighting tooth and nail against it. Going by Mr. Modi’s track record in Gujrat, the only option left with opposition was to derail the land acquisition bill any how, so that no development can take place in the nation and they stand better chance to win next election .
Today DFC, the most important project which is likely to be a game changer for I.Rlys is struck up due to land acquisition problems in many stretches. Increasing the average speed of freight & passenger trains by 25 kmph is possible only if DFC materializes. DFC is the only ray of hope for IRlys to win back huge freight and passenger traffic it has lost to roads in last 6 decades. Growth of nation is likely to suffer in the game of “Land acquisition Bill” being played by our leaders.
Indian Railway can survive and thrive only if it is managed commercially. If it continues being (mis)managed politically, its future is uncertain. Let us hope that the efforts being made by MoR to depoliticize IRly become successful. Then nobody will demand new division or zone, demand will be only for new trains or passenger amenities. That too may not be required as by that time IR shall have all the relevant data and mechanism to identify the demand and operate new trains by itself just like airline operators do.