No proposal to privatise Indian Railways: Piyush Goyal

In a written response, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that no specific passenger train had been identified to be run by private operators so far. The reply came in the backdrop of a proposal of national transporter to give two trains to the private operators.

New Delhi: In a response to a question on the issue of privatisation of Railways, in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the Union Minister of Railways, Piyush Goyal informed that there is no proposal to privatise Indian Railways.

The response came against the backdrop of a proposal of national transporter to give two trains to the private operators.

As the sources have suggested that going ahead with its 100 days Action Plan, Railways have identified New Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express to be handed over to the private players.
However, in a written reply, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said, "no specific passenger train has been identified to be run by private players so far."

Over the proposal of adopting Public Private Partnership model (PPP) for railways, the government has faced a strong protest from the Railway Union as well as from the various political parties in the Parliament, who raised their concerns over the issue of unemployment which will be caused by the privatisation of Railways.

In a separate reply in Lok Sabha, Railway Minister informed that more than 4.61 lakh people were recruited in Railways over the last decade and more than 2.98 lakh positions were vacant as on June 1, this year.

He also said that the recruitment process is going on currently for over 2.98 lakh employees.