Ensure 80% Local Jobs At Kazipet Coach Factory: Harish Rao

WARANGAL: Former minister T. Harish Rao on Saturday demanded that the Centre ensure an 80 per cent job quota for local youth in the upcoming Kazipet Railway Coach Factory.

Addressing the ‘Koluvula Kosam Kotlata’ (Fight for Jobs) protest at Kazipet Junction in Hanamkonda, held under the leadership of former government chief whip Dasyam Vinay Bhaskar, Harish Rao warned of a statewide ‘Gully to Delhi’ agitation if the demand was ignored.

The BRS leader said the coach factory was realised after a prolonged struggle during the Telangana movement led by K. Chandrashekar Rao. He noted that although the project was sanctioned in 1982, it was neglected for decades despite repeated railway budgets. He pointed out that establishing the factory at Kazipet was a mandatory provision under the AP Reorganisation Act, 2014.

Criticising both the BJP and Congress, Harish Rao accused them of neglecting Telangana’s interests. He said that while the Centre had earlier claimed the region did not require a coach factory, a similar unit was sanctioned in Latur, Maharashtra. He added that the previous BRS government had already acquired and handed over 150 acres of land to the Railways.

During the protest, the BRS presented a five-point charter of demands, including an 80 per cent local job quota, employment for families who surrendered land, immediate declaration of Kazipet as a Railway Division, priority for local entrepreneurs in railway trade, and a halt to the transfer of local employees to other regions.

Former MLA Vinay Bhaskar urged Congress and BJP MPs from the state to press the Union Ministry to issue a government order on job reservations and called for the establishment of specialised training centres to equip local youth with the required technical skills.