Privatisation of railways against the rights of people: Yechury

Says for bullet trains there is neither proper infrastructure nor any law for acquisition of land

Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Sitaram Yechury on Thursday said the privatisation of the Indian Railways is against the rights of the people.

"As far as we can see and the trends of the government show that to a large extent, talks will be there of privatisation and such kind of privatisation is against the rights of the country and the people," he said.

"For bullet trains, there is neither proper infrastructure nor any law for acquisition of land. It will be so expensive that it will be beyond the reach of 'aam aadmi'," he added.

Earlier in the day, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said the common man would be given prime importance in the Rail Budget 2015 and added that expansion and modernization of the Indian railways will also be witnessed in the same.

"The Rail Budget 2015 will bring smile to everyone's face as all the issues will be addressed and a complete road map will be presented. Expansion and modernization of Indian Rail network will be seen and passengers will be benefitted. The common man will be given prime importance and the budget will be as per their expectations," said Sinha.

Meanwhile, the NDA Government's first full-fledged Railway Budget is being presented by Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu in Parliament.