PMK leader S. Ramadoss on Friday said the report of the high-level committee for restructuring of Indian Railways, headed by Bibek Debroy, favouring privatisation of the sector would prove detrimental to passengers.
In a statement here, he welcomed the recommendation that powers should not be heaped on the Railway Board, but must be devolved to zonal and divisional managers. However, privatisation would destroy the profile of Railways as a public service industry.
If private companies were allowed to operate they would do so only in profit-making routes and during peak hours, he said.
Dr. Ramadoss said the suggestion that private companies should be permitted to determine fares by themselves and that the government should not put any control on this was nothing but an open invitation to private companies to exploit.
