Railway employees’ unions have criticised the Centre for having invited private players for an auction of 105 rail routes to operate trains.
Southern Railway Mazdoor Union said the Centre was misusing the COVID-19 lockdown to fast-track its privatisation policy. “Since we cannot mobilise people for major protests under lockdown conditions, the Centre was going ahead with its anti-people policies,” said its Madurai divisional secretary J.M. Rafi.
The railways had planned to close down non-viable branch lines and convert hundreds of long-distance passenger trains into expresses. “When these two measures are bound to deny train travel to a majority of rural people, the move to allow private players to run trains will further hit the common man,” he said.
Dakshin Railway Employees Union Madurai divisional secretary R. Sankaranarayanan said in such a scenario, private players would increase the fare manifold and deny concessions for senior citizens, differently abled persons, students and others. Train journey would become out of reach for poor and middle class people.
Railway jobs would go to the private sector, dashing the hopes of educated youth of getting a secure government job. Three lakh posts lying vacant in Indian Railways would never be filled. The Centrre had asked the railways to surrender 50% of posts lying vacant for the past two years, said SRMU assistant divisional secretary V. Ramkumar. He said ‘rail hostesses,’ recruited for Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express that was handed over to a private player, did not receive their salaries at all.
Mr. Sankaranarayanan said the railways was operating trains at a maximum speed of 160 kmph in certain sectors and speeding up of trains could be extended to many parts of the country. But, the government was trying to sell the profit-making sectors, which would indirectly further weaken the economy. He condemned the attempt by the Centre to give the Indian Railways, created with taxpayers’ money’ on a platter to private players.