Pics: Jeevan D’Costa

Daijiworld Media Network – Udupi (EP)

Udupi, Nov 8: Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and Karnataka region farmers society staged protests under the joint aegis of All India agricultural workers union in front of Ajjarkad war memorial on Tuesday.

They said that the Narendra Modi government at the centre is planning to privatize the railway sector. “The railway stations, the railway land around them, railway tracks, trains, goods storage etc are our assets. There are more than 7,300 railway stations in the country. As many as 2.40 crore passengers travel in 13,400 passenger trains every day. 9,141 goods trains run every day. Food, pulses, necessary goods used by people, agricultural and industrial products are being transported every day. The Modi government is following the liberalization policy implemented in 1991,” said CITU state vice president Balakrishna Shetty expressing disappointment.

“Generation of electricity is already entrusted to private parties. The government intends to assign private parties to transmit electricity and supply it to houses. The government wants to implement a prepaid system with smart meters,” he said.

“The union government has asked the states to complete installation of meters before the year 2025. Therefore, disaster is awaiting everybody. Hence, we should ensure that the Modi government does not come to power in the next elections. The railways will incur huge loss due to privatization. It will cause problems to the workers and will be disastrous for the country,” he said.

CITU district treasurer Shashidhar Golla spoke on the occasion. CITU leaders Mohan Rama Salian, Subhashchandra Naik, Rama Karkada, Nalini, Dayananda Kotian, Ramesh, Prathima, Sadashiva Poojary, Dayananda Ameen and others were present.