The last 10 years have seen a remarkable disinterest in running and maintaining transport for the poor. Even in all the cacophony around development, the sounds and sights of the poor trying to catch buses and trains are buried in the background. https://thewire.in/government/no-transport-for-poor-indians
Local passenger trains are slowly disappearing and costly express trains are coming in their place. The Railways has quietly increased the number of AC coaches while reducing the number of sleeper coaches.
Senior citizen concessions were stopped during the Covid pandemic, and haven’t been restored, as the government earned Rs 5,800 crore in the last four years by stopping it.
And then there is Adani! You might have heard about the National Monetisation Plan. Many railway assets were to be monetised under this. Which means nothing but they were to change hands from railways to private players.
Today Adani owns the largest private railway line in the country, measuring about 300 kilometres. Of course, who wouldn’t like an accessible mode of transport to run between his ports and factories?
by Kavita Kabeer
29/05/2024