Railway employees under the banner of All India Railwaymen Federation (AIRF), Mysuru and the South Western Railway Mazdoor Union (SWRMU), Mysuru on Wednesday staged a demonstration here protesting against what they called the move to private railways. They observed “Black Day” opposing the permission to allow private railway operators.
Citing a directive from the Niti Aayog, they claimed the Ministry of Railways was planning to permit operation of private passenger trains. I
n a press release, P. Shivaprakash, Divisional Secretary, SWRMU, Mysuru said the Ministry has set up an empowered group of secretaries for development of 50 railway stations into world-class stations and permit operators of private passenger trains to run 150 trains with world-class technology over the Indian railway network. The Chairman, Railway Board and the Finance Commissioner, Railways have been included in the group. “The ongoing effort was to make the path of privatisation easier for the railways,” they alleged.
He said an AIRF delegation had met the Minister for Railways on October 9 and expressed its opposition to the “new policies”. “The Minister had told the Railway Board Chairman that everything should be discussed transparently with the staff federations but the committee was constituted the next day. This shows the government was not keen to keep the industrial peace which has been prevalent in the railways since more than four decades,” the release stated.
The associations said they will continue the struggle for “safeguarding the railways.”
The protestors also burnt a copy of the notification and wore black ribbons as a mark of observing “black day”.
