India News | Railway 'privatisation' Very Dangerous, Should Not Be Allowed: E T Mohammed Basheer

New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) Lok Sabha member E T Mohammed Basheer Monday expressed concerns over certain railway services being handed over to private players, saying it was "very dangerous" and the government should not do so.

He was participating in a discussion in Lok Sabha on demands for grants for the railways for 2021-22.

The railways is a national property and its "privatisation is very dangerous", The IUML MP said. "We should not hand over our national property to private sector."

During the discussion, Hanuman Beniwal of the Rashtriya Loktantrik Party asked as to how the "privatisation" of railways will impact its employees.

He also demanded that the vacancies in the sector be filled at the earliest.

Anupriya Patel (Apna Dal) asked about the steps taken by the government to increase freight basket to push revenues.

BJP members hailed the railways for extending support and services during the coronavirus pandemic.

Lallu Singh (BJP) said the government has taken several steps to increase the rail network coverage.

BJP member Sushil Kumar Singh said the railways was misused for political purposes earlier, but now works are getting done on ground rather than just announcements being made.

He also took an indirect dig at TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who has also served as a railway minister earlier.

There have been several railway ministers from West Bengal and one of them had made at least three major announcements but not much happened which was disappointing, he said.

Participating in the discussion, National Conference member Hasnain Masoodi said J&K did not receive the attention it deserved in the budget.

Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy (YSR Cong) said the number of second class coaches in trains are getting reduced and that such coaches should continue to be there.

Amar Singh (Cong) claimed that the internal revenues of the railways have been falling since the BJP came to power and he also raised concerns about the sustainability of the proposed bullet train project.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)