Thiruvananthapuram: DYFI activists on Monday blocked trains to protest against the privatization of railways and recruitment ban. The blockade led to a brief delay in the departure of several trains in main stations across the state. In Thiruvananthapuram, DYFI activists blocked Kerala Express at the central railway station by holding a protest demonstration on the tracks. Hundreds of activists who took part in the protest raised slogans against the Centre.
The protest was part of DYFI all India "Rail Roko" agitation against privatization, Centre's failure to create the promised jobs and anti workers policies. The DYFI leaders said the Centre had promised to create 2 crore jobs every year. But the Modi government has not only failed to create new jobs but have also implemented policies like demonetization which has led retrenchment of lakhs of workers across the country.
They said the Centre is now all set to privatize the railway which is the biggest job providers in the country. Niti Aayog member Bibek Debroy has submitted a report for privatisation. The Centre intends to divide the railways into three sectors; policy formulation, administrative control and operations to expedite the process of privatization. The DYFI alleged that the privatization move was aimed at selling off the assets of the railways at throw away price.
