Hyderabad: Privatising Railways detrimental to nation said CPI national secretary Dr K Narayana

Hyderabad: CPI national secretary Dr K Narayana expressed apprehension over the Centre's move to privatise Indian Railways and said it will be detrimental to the nation and beneficial to the private players. In a statement here on Saturday, he said the Sangh Parivar government at the Centre had hinted at privatising the Indian Railways when it had clubbed the Railway Budget with the General Budget proposals.

Calling the privatisation move will drive Indian Railways on a wrong track with the profit-making vultures eying to enter into the railway sector. The CPI leader questioned whether the private players can prevent accidents, address the issues like delayed schedules and run the railways efficiently.

He reminded how people in the United Kingdom are fighting for the nationalisation of the British Railways, following their performance turning bad after privatisation in 1990. Raising several issues, he asked whether the railways could provide adequate compensation and health care facilities in the cause of causalities and injured persons during the accidents.

Narayana said in the name of improvement of facilities the private players might slap higher ticket charges and also increase the goods transportation charges. Further, general class bogies might disappear and the current concessions were given to physically challenged, students, employees, railway workers and their families might go away. The CPI leader said that Indian Railways is the fourth biggest railway industry in the world with 7,321 railway stations providing everyday transport to about 23.21 million people.

He said that the IRS has about 36 per cent of railway lines are of double- track or multi-track and 58 per cent of the lines have been electrified. The IRS has an asset of 12,147 railway engines, 74,003 passenger coaches, 2,89,185 goods wagons. Besides, the entire railway lines are proposed to be electrified by 2023.

That apart with 44 railway sheds, 212 carriages and wagon repair centres are backing up the railway operations. "Why all these railway assets are functioning when the Indian Railways are not functioning efficiently," he asked. Also, he questioned the privatisation against the backdrop of the railway infrastructure like signaling, tracks, railway engine sheds, railway stations and others were being developed by the government incurring lakhs of crores of rupees.

Besides, private players might take loans in a big way from the banks and default registering losses. Above all, currently, the railways being in the public sector is providing connectivity to the remove and far-flung areas. Against this, the private players might stop running trains on unprofitable lines, he said.