Some part of defence, railway land should be monetised: SAD MP Gujral

New Delhi, Mar.27 (ANI): Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament and Shiromani Akali Dal leader Naresh Gujral on Tuesday called on the UPA-II Government to monetise some of the land owned by the defence forces and the railways to reduce national deficit and modernize the above two institutions.

In a speech delivered in the Rajya Sabha in response to the budget proposals announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee for fiscal 2012-13, Gujral said: "Defence is sitting with 1.75 million acres of land of which almost 12,000 acres has been encroached upon. Similarly in almost every city they are sitting on prime land which can be monetised. Railways has a similar story. Why can't the government monetise some of this land in a transparent manner and use the proceeds only for modernising our defence and the Railways."

He further said that in Delhi's Chanakyapuri alone, the Railways has land worth over Rs. 10,000 crores, in which only 70 - 80 officers reside.

He asked: "Why can't this be utilized for passenger safety?" (ANI)