Fact Check: Rahul Gandhi’s claim of 151 Indian Railways trains becoming private false? Know truth here

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi recently took to social media and made a bold claim about how over 150 trains of the Indian Railways have become privatized, taking a dig at Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for privatising trains.

Now, the Fact Check team of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) has clarified the truth in the tweet posted by Rahul Gandhi. The PIB Fact Check social media handle refuted the words by Gandhi, saying that the claims made by the Congress leader are false.

Sharing a clip from his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra, Rahul Gandhi posted a tweet making the claim. In the clip, Gandhi could be seen interacting with railway employees talking about the privatization of several aspects of the Indian Railways.

12 लाख लोगों को रोज़गार, 2.5 करोड़ देशवासियों की रोज़ सेवा - देश को जोड़ती है भारतीय रेल।

प्रधानमंत्री जी, रेलवे देश की सम्पत्ति है, इसे निजीकरण नहीं, सशक्तिकरण की ज़रूरत है। बेचो मत! pic.twitter.com/Z6m5S0vQio — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 12, 2022

Gandhi wrote on his official Twitter account, “Railways connect India -- providing services to 2.5 crore passengers daily and employment to 12 lakh people. Pradhanmantri Ji, the railway is the property of the country. Do not privatise it. Strengthen it. Don't sell it.”

The video shows Rahul Gandhi asking a railway employee, “Which part of the Indian Railways are they privatizing?” to which the officer replies, “Railway stations, railway workshops, railway medical hospitals, and railway establishments are going to be privatized.”

एक ट्वीट में फर्जी दावा किया जा रहा है कि भारतीय रेलवे की 151 ट्रेनों, रेलवे संपत्ति, स्टेशनों और अस्पतालों का निजीकरण कर दिया गया है#PIBFactCheck
 संपत्ति का निजीकरण नहीं कर रहा pic.twitter.com/KecWtIM7du — PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) November 13, 2022

"Who are they giving it to? Big companies or small companies?” Rahul Gandhi further asked. The man replied that the contracts are being given to big companies, with 151 trains already privatized in India. The video further flashed a newspaper headline from 2019, making the same claim.

Debunking the claims made in the video posted by Rahul Gandhi, PIB Fact Check wrote on Twitter, “A tweet is falsely claiming that 151 trains, railway property, stations and hospitals of Indian Railways have been privatized. This claim is false. The Railways Ministry of India is not privatising any of its assets.”

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