Trade unions protest privatisation of Railways

New Delhi: Stating that the Union Budget has revealed the intention of the government to go ahead with its idea of corporatisation and privatisation of Railways, the All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) protested at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.

While speaking to ETV Bharat, Santosh Roy, president of AICCTU, said, "Privatisation of Indian Railways will not only affect rail employees but crores of Indian citizens. Indian Rail belongs to the common people. Modi government has not been given the mandate to privatise the Indian Railways. The government is planning to privatise Tejas Express, despite strong protests. We will fight tooth and nail against this assault on the common people."Secretary of AICCTU, Shweta said, "Railway workers from various production units are fighting against privatisation. Privatisation would mean an increase in fares and it would make the lives of daily commuters very difficult."Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget speech, proposed that Railways should use Public Private Partnership (PPP) model for faster development, rolling stock manufacturing and the delivery freight.Railway Ministry, in its 100 days Action Plan, also proposed the idea of handing over two trains to the private operators for which reports are suggesting that New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will be the first train to be operated by the private players. However, it is yet to be confirmed.