SUMAN K SHRIVASTAVA
Ranchi, Jan. 6: Kamal Jain Vinayaka, a businessman in Hazaribagh, had launched a campaign for a railway line to Madhuban from Parasnath at the age of 46. He has turned 73 now.
During the last 27 years, he has written over 1000 letters to various railway and the State Government authorities. He had knocked on the doors of at least 10 railway ministers, including Lalu Prasad and Mamata Banerjee. He had even written letters to late former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Home Minister Amit Shah to get this 43 km railway line.
Lakhs of Jain devotees visit Madhuban, a small town in Giridih district, situated at the foot of the Parasnath Hills that cradle the Sammed Shikharji pilgrimage centre. 20 of the 24 Jain Tirthankars (saviours and spiritual teachers) had attained Mahanirvana (salvation) on the Parasnath Hills. The word ‘Parasnath’ comes from ‘Parshvanatha’, the 23rd Jain tirthankara who attained moksha there. Besides, the hills are also considered holy by the members of the Santhal tribe, who regard it as ‘Marang Buru’ and hold an annual festival here in mid-April.
The result of Vinayaka’s tireless efforts has been that a survey was conducted by the Ministry of railway and foundation stone for the railway line was laid in 2019 at Parasnath railway station. Thereafter, the Covid pandemic halted the work. But he did not lose hope, and succeeded in persuading the Railway ministry to allocate Rs 50 crore fund in the 2022 budget to begin work on the railway line.
The 43 km railway line, estimated to cost Rs 902 crore has to be completed under an agreement with the Jharkhand government under which the Centre as well as the State government has to bear 50 percent each of the expenses.
But to Vinayaka’s disappointment, the State government has not allocated any funds to the project. He fears that the Central fund will lapse in March if the State Government does not make its share of funds available by then. And his efforts during the last 27 years will go down the drain.
The Divisional railway manager, Dhanbad, in a meeting of the parliamentary committee in December 2021 had said the railway ministry has allocated Rs 50.1 crore fund to begin the work. It has also prepared the land development plan and sought forest clearance for it. But it could not be started as the state government has not released its share of funds for the project, he added.
Tarachand Jain, Chairman of the Jharkhand Digambar Jain Nyas Board, said that Sammed Shikhaji is a Mecca for the Jains. “Every Jain visits at least once during his/her lifetime. At present, the Jain devotees get down at Parasnath railway station and travel 25 km by bus or taxi by road to reach Madhuban. More often, the taxi drivers charge exorbitant rates from them and even harass them. If the train takes them direct to Madhuban, it will be convenient for them, particularly for the elderly ones,” he added.
Vinayaka said that the plan is also to extend the railway line to Deoghar from Giridih. “And if it happens it will facilitate connecting two pilgrim centres of international importance, visited by lakhs of devotees from across the country and even abroad. Besides, it will generate extra revenue for the railway ministry and generate livelihood opportunities for the locals also,” he added.
Ironically, Transport Secretary K Srinivasan was clueless about the whole project. “I will have to check it,” he added.
Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon said that the project is related to the transport department. “So, the transport department will be able to say the status of the fund allotment. However, it happens to be an important project and a long pending demand of the people of the region. So, the State government will have to pay its own share to complete the project in order to link the holy town,” he told Lagatar24.com.
Notably, Union Minister of State for Education Annapurna Devi and Giridih MP Chandra Prakash Choudhary had raised questions about the construction of Parasnath-Madhuban-Giridih rail line in the Lok Sabha too. Choudhary said that connecting this area with the rail network will facilitate the pilgrims to reach there.
The Giridih MP has pointed out that after the foundation stone was laid in March 2019, there was hope among the local people that now with the start of direct rail service, the number of pilgrims will increase, which will also increase employment. But the work on the rail line project could not be started in three years because the funds were not made available. Due to this, there is a crisis of livelihood among the local people because due to inconvenience, the number of pilgrims is continuously decreasing, he pointed out.
