The Rail Budget has not given any relief to the 13 lakh employees who work 24 hours, 365 days under extreme weather conditions, and even sacrificing their lives, said Shiva Gopal Mishra, General Secretary, All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF), the largest union of rail employees.

Reacting to the Modi Government’s thrust on privatisation, FDI and public-private partnerships, Mishra said employees will not “tolerate any form of privatisation in the Railways.’

Common man



“Who will benefit from privatisation measures such as Wi-Fi facility, food courts, ready-to-eat packs, mobile wake-up calls, laundry machines for AC coaches etc? Only the upper-class passengers. This Budget has nothing for lakhs of common passengers and dedicated employees. It is disappointing and half-baked,” he told Business Line.

Also, announcements have been made about the introduction of new trains, but without developing infrastructure and adding manpower. “This will endanger railway safety,” he said.

It’s pro-corporate: CITU



The Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) also expressed serious concern over the BJP Government’s first Rail Budget and said it was “nothing but continuity of the same pro-corporate policy of the much-discredited Congress regime, rather in a more aggressive form.”

CITU General Secretary Tapan Sen said in a statement that the budgetary announcement of linking the travel fare with fuel price will result in “virtual deregulation” of rail fares.

The hike in fares along with the increase in the price of fuel will only add to the burden of the common man.