Cong says it’s for the rich, taking India away from socialist path

“Here everything is being done for the capitalist world. If you go through the statement of the budget, you will see that in each and every step the social obligations of a government has been criticised as if we have committed wrong in following them… India is a huge country and it is divided between India and Bharat. We cannot leave behind the people of Bharat in a lurch. So we have to discharge some sort of welfare measures for the poor, backward and vulnerable sections of the society. This government is heading more and more towards privatisation of the railways, much to the discomfiture of the common people,” said party MP and former MoS (Railways) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who will be the lead speaker from the Congress during the discussion on railway budget in Lok Sabha.

Chowdhury said his party is neither averse to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model since it was conceived by his government nor to the FDI in railways. But, he added, the government has identified segments like parcel freight for privatisation, which “is the high-end area where you will be able to earn more profit”.

Former railway minister and Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, said: “This is a PPP and FDI budget, not a railway budget. The budget has nothing for the poor. There is no new scheme, no new plan and no new railway line. They have themselves admitted that it is a plan holiday,” he said.

Extending Rahul’s argument that Congress-ruled states were ignored in the budget, Kharge said: “The budget is only for Ahmedabad.” On the government’s plans to introduce a bullet train between Mumbai and Ahmedabad and setting up of a Diamond Quadrilateral network of high speed rail, he said the plan will remain on paper as adequate funds have not been earmarked for the projects.