Before the presentation of Rail Budget, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday said that the day railways is privatised it will deal a huge blow to the unity of the country.
“Railways play a big role in the unity of the country and still it is the communication system for the common people. The railways should not be privatised and it be developed in a way that all sections are benefited. It should be taken to remote areas where rail service has still not reached,” said Nitish, a former Railway Minister who presented Rail Budget five times. He accused the Centre of planning to privatise the Indian Railways.
However, he said he has no expectation from the Budget and recalled that during his tenure many projects had been announced which are still pending while deadline expired long back. Funds are needed to complete those projects and it is the duty of the Centre to complete them. He said every year only a little amount is allocated which is not enough to complete the pending works.
Nitish was also critical of the Centre for asking the States to give their share for completing railway projects and asked in how many Central schemes the States should contribute. “I feel that the railway is not in a position to allocate adequate fund to complete its projects and so talking about private investment. The railway is also not getting suitable support from the Centre,” he said while extending his best wishes to his `old friend’ Suresh Prabhu.
Reacting on the renewed statement of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on the reservation policy, the CM said just before the Bihar Assembly election Bhagwat had expressed his views which were carried by RSS mouthpiece Panch Janya in which he had suggested a political committee to revisit the reservation policy in the Act. Nitish said reservation is a constitutional provision while Bhagwat wanted to make a political issue. “They claim to follow Ambedkar but they are out to destroy the constitution. The RSS has made its stand on reservation clear that it is unhappy with the reservation to Dalits, tribal and backwards and the BJP will definitely follow it. Most of the people in the Union Cabinet are followers to RSS ideologies,” Nitish said.
Commenting on the JNU issue and related incidents, the CM said there was no rule of law in Delhi and it is jungle raj there. “They (BJP) show their lung power over minor incidents in Bihar and in Delhi the accused persons and journalists are abused and attacked with police standing mute. Their aim is to bring fascism in the country and those not subscribing to their ideologies are branded as anti-nationals. This is nothing but to divert the attention of the people from the sagging image of the Government and its failure to check prices and reform economy,” the CM alleged.