Sonia against privatizing rail factories, Rlys rejects charge

New Delhi: UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday accused the Modi government of planning to privatize six rail production units, saying this is a “first attempt” to hand over the country’s priceless assets to private hands cheaply leaving thousands unemployed.
Soon after the UPA chairperson raised the point in Lok Sabha during the Zero Hour, the railways rejected her charge saying the factory will remain under government control and also maintained that “corporatisation was not privatisation”.
Raising the issue in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi said these included Rae Bareli’s Modern Coach Factory. She said the move was against the objectives for which the plant had been set up.
“The real concern is that they have chosen the Modern Coach Factory for the experiment,” Gandhi said.
She said the factory was set up by the UPA government of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to boost rail manufacturing in the country and it was the “most modern plant” that produced good quality coaches at cheap prices.
“This factory has been producing more than its basic capacity. This is the most modern factory of the Indian Railways. This is famous for manufacturing cheapest rail coaches. This is one of the best rail production units,” she said.