The Youth Congress organised on Friday staged a "shirtless" protest in Delhi on Friday against the Central Government over the issue of privatisation of Indian Railways.
The activists took out the protest march from the headquarters of the outfit at Raisina Road. They were stopped by the police when they tried to move towards the Rail Bhawan.
The Ministry of Railways on Wednesday had invited requests for qualifications (RFQ) for private participation for operation of passenger train services over 109 Origin Destination (OD) pairs of routes through introduction of 151 modern trains.
The 109 OD Pairs have been formed into 12 clusters across the Indian Railway network. Each train shall have a minimum of 16 coaches.
“Since the present BJP-led NDA government came to power in 2014, many Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and other government-held assets have moved towards privatisation,” the IYC said in a statement.
"The anti-poor government at the Centre has also consistently moved towards privatisation of Indian Railways, which will gradually lead to the railway becoming unaffordable to the common man," it said.
IYC general secretary Harish Pawar along with several other youth Congress activists was detained by the police. They were released later from Mandir Marg police station, said Varun Pandey, IYC national media co-incharge.
The Railways on Thursday said private players will begin rail passenger services by April 2023, and they will run only five per cent of the Railways'' total mail and express trains.
