Chennai: All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) warned of a massive agitation if the government thought of privatising or corporatising Indian Railways accepting the recommendations of Rakesh Mohan Committee.

AIRF general secretary J P Chaubey told reporters on November 28 that railways had earned a profit of Rs 963 crores in 2000-2001 after all the concessions given to its workers and there was no need to privatise it.

The Rakesh Mohan committee had cited the British Railways as an example for corporatising, but failed to take note of the failure of the British government's move, Chaubey said. Funding agencies were pressurising the Centre to privatise or corporatise the railways and the government should not succumb to such pressures, he added.

AIRF general secretary strongly opposed the creation of new railway zones by the railway board, as it would only hit the operational efficiency of the railways and would cause a financial burden on the board. The new zones were only created with an eye on the vote bank and was 'politically motivated', he said.

He said railway board had stated that if railway employees did not opt for working in the new zones, it would recruit people to fill up the vacancies in the zones. While it had imposed a ban on the recruitment in the old zones, recruitment for the new zones could not be justified at all, he added.

PTI