Rajya Sabha debates working of Railways, Opposition slams privatisation of services

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in the Rajya Sabha during the Budget Session of the Parliament, in New Delhi on Wednesday (March 12, 2025).
| Photo Credit: ANI

During a discussion in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday (March 12, 2025) on the working of the Railways Ministry, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) members said the infrastructure and passenger facilities have improved manifold under the Narendra Modi Government. The Opposition, on the other hand, placed a chargesheet against the Centre by citing frequent rail accidents and complaints about poor quality of services offered in trains due to privatisation. Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will reply to the debate on Monday.

Initiating the debate, BJP MP from West Bengal Samik Bhattacharya said the Railway Budget was an instrument for political calculations before 2014. “It was more for political patronage and less about development. Under the Modi government, the budgetary announcements for Railways are not mere announcements for garnering vote banks. They are for a developed India and to create a new, self reliant India,” Mr. Bhattacharya said.

He added that the Union government has made significant strides in high speed rail corridors, marking a monumental step towards an efficient transportation. “Government is now planning high speed corridors in north, east, and south India after completing Mumbai Ahmedabad high speed corridor,” he said.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam’s N.R. Elango alleged that contractualisation and outsourcing reduced about two million jobs in the Railways. “After the BJP government came to power, in 2015 a Niti Aayog committee proposed a two-decade vision to privatise major segments of India’s extensive railway network. Since then the BJP government has implemented various privatisation measures through multiple approaches,” he said adding that in the past three or four years the country lost valuable lives of 400 passengers due to train accidents, compared to zero deaths between 2018 and 2021. “Why is this happening? This is happening because of privatisation of employees,” he added.

Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Sanjay Yadav alleged that the safety system introduced in 2016, Kavach, has not been fully implemented and questioned the delay in implementing it. “Railway is the lifeline of India but this government has put it in a lifeless condition,” Mr. Yadav said. Former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, pointing out that only a few members are present to discuss the working of Railways, applauded Prime Minister Modi and said the Centre has done more work than the work done in the previous 60 years for improving Railways.

Janata Dal(United) leader Sanjay Kumar Jha listed the achievements of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar when he was the Railways Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. In a veiled attack against former Railway Minister and RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, Mr. Jha said the invitation extended by the Harvard University to Mr. Prasad was “a huge question mark”, and said there are cases against him for “land-for-jobs scam” and the “IRCTC scam”. Congress MP Syed Naseer Hussain said railway accidents have increased even as lakhs of railway posts are lying vacant. He said the discontinued railway concessions for senior citizens, ex-servicemen and journalists should be restarted.