New Delhi: Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said on Wednesday that at present the government has no plans for privatization of Indian Railways. He said that the allegations made by the opposition in this regard are baseless. Replying to the discussion in the Lok Sabha on the Demands for Grants of the Ministry of Railways for 2022-23, the Minister also said that the Railways has sympathetically resolved the recent “misunderstanding” regarding recruitment. Ashwini Vaishnav said in response to many issues, there is no restriction on recruitment, the process of recruitment is going on for 1.14 lakh vacancies.
After this, the Lok Sabha approved the demands for grants for the Railways by voice vote. During the discussion, many MPs accused the government of privatizing the railways. “It is only a hypothetical point… Tracks belong to Railways, Stations belong to Railways, Engines belong to Railways, Trains belong to Railways, Signaling systems belong to Railways… (there) no talk of privatization… No plan to privatize railways Not there.”
Vaishnav also emphasized that there is no plan to privatize the freight corridor. He said that railways will continue to fulfill social obligations, a subsidy of Rs 60,000 crore is provided on passenger fares.
The minister gave this information about the bullet train
Responding to the issues related to the proposed bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad, he said that 99.7 percent of the land acquisition work in the Gujarat section has been completed, and 750 pillars have been constructed. Work on the bullet train project is progressing at the rate of 8 km per month, which will be increased to 10 km per month.
Vaishnav said that 18 railway projects are pending in West Bengal due to the lack of cooperation of the state government.
