NEW DELHI, July 3:
Activists of the Indian Youth Congress on Friday staged a “shirtless” demonstration to protest against the Government’s move to allow private entities in passenger train operations.
The activists took out the protest march from the headquarters of the outfit at Raisina Road. They were stopped by the police when they tried to move towards the Rail Bhawan.
The Railways on Wednesday formally kickstarted the process to allow private players to operate passenger trains on its network by inviting request for qualifications (RFQ) for participation on 109 pairs of routes through 151 modern trains.
In a statement, the IYC said since the present BJP-led NDA government came to power in 2014, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other government-held assets have moved towards privatisation.
“The anti-poor government at the Centre has also consistently moved towards privatisation of Indian Railways, which will gradually lead to the railway becoming unaffordable to the common man,” it said.
IYC general secretary Harish Pawar along with several other youth Congress activists were detained by the police. They were released later from Mandir Marg police station, said Varun Pandey, IYC national media co-incharge.
The Railways on Thursday said private players will begin rail passenger services by April 2023, and they will run only five per cent of the Railways’ total mail and express trains.
Addressing a press conference online, Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav also said that the ticket fares in these trains will be competitive with airfares on similar routes. (PTI)
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