Rlys asks traders to vacate Kalna platform; TMC MLA supports traders’ rehabilitation demand

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MLA from Kalna, Debaprasad Bag is said to have lent support to the traders on the Kalna Railway platform premises who have been asked to shift elsewhere by the Railways for modernisation work.

As part of the Amrit Bharat Station initiative, Kalna Station is one such which is scheduled to undergo modernisation work. The initiative was recently announced by the Prime Minister.

However, complications have arisen as traders who are learnt to have been selling items on the platform have now protested against being asked to move away from there.

The ruling party MLA is said to have boycotted the Railways event on Sunday to express solidarity with these small-time traders.

He told the media: “The state government, under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee, believes in development but not at the cost of snatching away the livelihood of the poor. We want the Railways to properly rehabilitate these traders who have been doing business here for a long time.”

There are tea shops, small hotels, sweetshops and other such establishments present on the premises, besides several families who reside on the premises. They have been reportedly handed over eviction notices now for modernisation of the platform.

The traders are now spending sleepless nights thinking how they would earn a living if they are evicted from the premises. Most of their customers were railway passengers. Hence, they have been requesting the Railways to at least leave some area for them so they can continue with their trade and the platform can also be modernised.