Dear Shri Narendra Modi ji,
We understand that your government is bent upon handing over Indian Railways to private sector operators and as part of that anti-state sector initiative the Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express will become the first train to be operated by private players. This is part of your government’s 100-day agenda of handing over operations of two of its trains to the private sector, despite protests from its unions.
We strongly condemn this move which is part of your ideology that underlines the belief that private sector is more effective and business-friendly where as the fact and our experience till date is that the private sector pathologically keen on making profits and super profits. The private sector does not mind trampling on all human and societal considerations with its greed for reaping profits. Also crores of taxpayers’ money have been spent on pavement of rails and the construction of super special Tejas train with world class facilities. Hence, it will be a serious lapse on the part of the government to handover Tejas Express to private sector.
In this context, we would like to draw your government’s as well as your personal attention to the fact that that the British experience shows that privatising the vital national service will not necessarily make it more efficient. In Britain, the Labour Party’s PM-designate Ed Miliband came under pressure to commit to re-nationalising the railways if his party came to power. Even Margaret Thatcher, an advocate of minimal government, was against privatising the railways. It was the post-Thatcher Conservative government led by John Major that ended the government’s ownership of the railways, by hiving it off to 25 franchises in 1993.
In the light of the above facts, I would request you to desist from such moves and keep the entire railway services in government sector. It should also be not forgotten Indian Railways have been built with public money which should not be allowed to be eaten away by private sector and corporate sector.
Thanking you,
With Regards,
Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, Ex-M.P.
General Secretary