the goan I network
MARGAO
Ahead of its three-day 65th biennial general council meeting kick-starting here from Wednesday, the National Railway Mazdoor Union has sounded the battle bugle against the BJP government’s plan to privatize and corporatize the Indian railways.
The Union has slammed the government’s Rs 1.5 lakh crore bullet train project linking Ahmedabad-Mumbai, saying the Centre would have done good for the people of the country had it invested the huge amount in upgrading the available rail infrastructure across the country.
While the Union is bracing to enforce a rail hartal, the decision on which is expected to be taken at the biennial general council meeting, it has come out in support of a marginal hike in the passenger fare to meet expenses.
Addressing the media ahead of the meeting, Union general secretary Venu P Nair said the 3-day meeting is being held in Margao from Wednesday against the backdrop of a crucial period as the very existence and identity of Indian railways as one of the largest public transport system of the world is at stake.
“The IR is on the brink of peril with the aggressive push given by the Ministry of Railways for privatization and corporatization of Railways. Soon after the release of the Vision document “100 days action plan”, the Ministry flagged off its first private-operated train between Lucknow and New Delhi. The private train with promises of swanky coaches and international standard customer service will be provided at a much higher fare which will zoom to unaffordable level with the flexi-fare scheme. The prevailing concessions and other privileges being extended to the general public and staff will become a thing of the past and gradually the poor citizens of the country and the working class will be deprived of their legitimate right of transport facility to move from one place to another,” he said.
Justifying his statement, Nair said a special committee constituted by the government headed by Amitabh Kant, CEO of Niti Ayog has recommended the government to hand over 150 trains running at different routes to private operators along with transfer of the station management of 50 major railway stations to private companies under the guise of station redevelopment.
He also took exception to the decision taken by the Ministry to corporatize IR production units and its associated maintenance workshops and slammed the government for the commercial exploitation of railway assets and rampant outsourcing of all perennial and non-perennial activities.
