Varanasi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday ruled out privatisation of Railways and said that people must not be wary of foreign and private capital being utilised for improving infrastructure of the national transporter which, in turn, will help boost the country’s economy.
“There is a misunderstanding that Railways is being privatised. However, I want to make it clear that we are not privatising Railways. We cannot go in this direction. You don’t have to worry. It is neither our wish nor thinking,” he said, asking the unions not to pay heed to “rumours” in this regard.
He was speaking at the Diesel Locomotive Works (DLW), on the outskirts of the city, where he inaugurated a project for expansion of the workshop and also dedicated to the nation a 4500 horse-power air-conditioned passenger train engine.
“We can take the example of a village where there is a railway station through which very few trains pass. Now the existence of the station would naturally result in good electricity supply,” he said.
“If we construct a few rooms in the vicinity, we can use these for setting up skill development centres which can work wonders for the unemployed youths in the village and nearby areas,” Modi said.
Modi said Railways can be made an attractive career option for many talented young people.
“For that we would need to bring in technological upgradation and better human resource management. It is for this purpose that we have decided to set up four Railway universities across the country,” he said.
“At these universities, young men who have an interest in Railways and its operations can get best-possible training before they get a job,” Modi added.
The Prime Minister, who also inaugurated a project for expansion of the DLW workshop, said, “This project should be seen as an important part of my government’s Make in India campaign.”
