Piyush Goyal: No question of privatisation of railways

Rejecting the oppositions allegation that the government is working to privatise the national transporter Railway Minister Piyush Goyal Friday asserted there is no question of privatisation but said the ministry will invite investments for new technology lines and projects in the national interestGoyal replied in the Lok Sabha to the discussion on Demands for Grants of the railways and reeled out figures to claim that the Narendra Modi government has performed much better in boosting both infrastructure and safety parameters of the national transporter as compared to the UPA eraDuring his hourlong speech there were frequent protests by Congress members as their leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accused him of misleading the House and he was backed by his party colleaguesGoyal also defended the decision to discontinue tabling of a separate railway budget in Parliament calling them political budgets which were used to sell dreams of new trains and railway lines to people for winning electionsWith several opposition leaders accusing the government of ushering in the privatisation of the railways Goyal noted that he had time and again rejected the claims and would reiterate again that there was no question of privatisationThere is no question of privatisation of the railways The railways cannot be privatised However if we have to increase the facilities in railways then obviously we need investments for it We have taken a decision to encourage publicprivate partnerships and we will also corporatise some unitsWe should invite investment in the national interest if someone is ready to get new technology new stations projects and lines the minister told the HouseGoyal said that the Modi government had inherited dilapidated railways but had managed to turn it around in the past five years by laying new tracks improving security and facilities for passengers He said track kilometre grew by 39000 km in 64 years while in the past five years it grew by 7000 km Similarly he said the railways increased its running kilometre by 12000 km between 19502014 while from 20142019 it grew by 5000 running kilometreThe work for Dedicated Freight Corridor started in 2007 From 2007 to 2014 they had not even managed one kilometre of track linking We took on this work and in just five years we have completed 1900 km of track linking said GoyalHe further claimed that during the Congress rule not one coach was manufactured in Rae Barelis Modern Coach Factory since 20072008 till 2014 and the first coach was made in August 2014 shortly after the BJP came to powerWe want the MCF to increase its manufacturing capacity to 5000 and the trains coming out of there go to the entire world We want it to be the largest factory in the world he saidGoyal said that between 2004 and 2009 around 206 accidents took place every year while the number was 153 between 2009 and 2011 He said that during the BJPs tenure it reduced to around 100 every yearThe minister also highlighted how the government had installed around 210000 biotoilets in trains so farHitting out at successive state governments in West Bengal Goyal said that several projects had been held up because the state was unable to provide land to railwaysThe oldest project in West Bengal is running from 197475 The projects dont get completed because the government doesnt give us land If they give us land work will immediately start he said adding that similar problems were also faced in KeralaGoyals reference to the alleged inaction of the UPA government to Mumbai train blasts which had taken place on July 11 2006 drew loud protests from the Congress with its members shouting shame on you He asserted that such terrorists would have been given a befitting reply had Modi been in powerGoyal also credited the prime minister for his focus on the railways and said the growth the sector had seen was largely because of his visionA tea vendor selling tea in front of trains during his childhood saw this country and understood the significance of the railways said GoyalCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get the latest updates