If there is Privatisation of railway assets, then there will be a big mass movement – Shivgopal Mishra, GS/AIRF

New Delhi: General Secretary, All India Railway Men’s Federation, Shiva Gopal Mishra opposed the statement of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman considering it as a means of Privatisation and sale of government assets and not in the interest of the country.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently unveiled an ambitious Rs 6 lakh crore National Monetisation Pipeline (NMP),  that includes unlocking value by involving private companies in infrastructure sectors ranging from passenger trains and railway stations to airports, roads and stadiums.

Airports Authority of India (AAI) has 25 airports, including airports at Chennai, Bhopal, Varanasi and Vadodara, Also 40 railway stations, 15 railway stadiums and an unknown number of railway colonies have been identified for receiving private investment.

Under the scheme, private companies can invest in projects for a fixed return using the Investment route as well as operate and develop assets for a specified period before transferring them back to a government agency.

Some properties like godowns and stadiums can also be leased for long term for operation, a decision which is an open avenue for Privatisation and Sale of government assets to the capitalists, a big blow to the country.

General Secretary AIRF Shiva Gopal Mishra said that such decisions of the government to raise money by selling railway assets will make fares expensive and railways will become difficult for common passengers.

He said that the government’s eyes are on the railway land, which is being sold to the capitalists by selling it at the cost of a penny, due to which accessible and cheap means like rail and its resources will be passed on to private hands and capitalists, travel will become expensive because of the private companies. It will operate for its own benefit, not for the sake of the nation and the public.

Mishra further said that even today, most of the citizens of the country go to their homes and places by rail travel because most of the population of our country is either poor or from middle class family.

He said that on the one hand, the govt wants to sell the valuable railway lands at the cost of a penny and build shopping malls and expensive restaurants on the same land through the capitalists in the name of redevelopment, which will be only for the rich and not for the poor.

Even the government wants to sell those stadiums where railway players practice and bring glory to the country by getting medals by participating in sports up to the international level.

Mishra said that we railway employees are not going to be afraid of these decisions of the government and we will not allow the railway assets to be privatised at any cost and will not be handed over to the capitalists because the railways will survive only then the country will be saved.

Along with this, if the government does not stop these decisions soon, then the All India Railway Men’s Federation will be obliged to block a big public movement and all the responsibility will be of the Government of India.

He said that we will decide the strategy ahead by convening the meeting of the “NCCRS” Sangharsh Committee constituted to save the railways and save nation and will conduct a strict mass movement.