Congress claims 'travel to become costlier' as Railways allows privatisation upto 5%

Reacting to privatisation of Indian Railways, Leader of Opposition (Lok Sabha), Adhir Ranjan  Chowdhury slammed the move stating that by privatisation of 109 trains will make travel costly. He added that privatisation of railways would not cure its inefficiency and would add to the poor's burden under severe financial crisis. He also said that the Centre should reconsider this decision as national asset rails should not be privatised in such an audacious manner.

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Furthermore, he posed several questions:

• Why isn't private capital being sought for railway lines, coach construction or signalling systems?
• Will all expenses be borne by the government and the private companies will make profit only by running the railways? In the end, the government is trying to benefit? In whose interest?
• If the railways are handed over to the private sector today, will they see the disadvantages for the benefit of the common people? Will they make a profit?
• The main cost of the railways is not just running the railways, the railway lines, signalling, new coaches, cost of maintenance, the cost of the workers' wages. If the government does it all, will they be allowed to make a profit by simply handing over the train to the private sector?

Govt desperate to sell great chunk of Railways: Congress opposes 109 trains' privatisation

Railways announces privatisation

Earlier in the day, Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav announced that private train operations are likely to begin by April 2023, all coaches will be procured under Make in India policy. He said that train sets have to be brought by private operators and maintained by them and if any performance indicators are not met by private players in passenger train operations they will be penalised. Moreover, he added that private participation in passenger train operations will only be 5 per cent of the total operations of Railways and will result in a quantum jump in technology, higher speeds.

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Lockdown extended till July 31 : Unlock-2

Extending the existing Coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Monday, issued an order that lockdown on containment zones will continue till July 31. The guidelines of 'Unlock 2' prohibits opening of educational institutions, international air travel, metro rail, cinema halls, bars, auditoriums, swimming pools, gymnasiums, and large congregations. The MHA has shortened the night curfew timing from 10 PM to 5 AM and stated national directives for COVID management still apply. India has 6,04,641 cases with 2,26,947 active cases and 3,59,860 recovered while 17,834 have died.