Modi govt has stopped politicisation of railways: Goyal

Kolkata: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal today said the Narendra Modi government has stopped politicisation of the national transporter unlike the previous regimes, which did so to accrue political benefits.

“The previous regimes had politicized railways for political benefits. In railway budgets, several absurd announcements were made without any planning. Trains were announced in areas where there are no tracks and infrastructure. 

“The Narendra Modi government has stopped the politicization of railways. Now no announcements are made without calculating the return, except in border areas where the matter of national security is concerned” he said. 

Goyal, who also holds the Union finance portfolio, said the Modi government has increased the railway capex, unlike the previous governments. On the question of revival of Burn Standard, Goyal said taxpayers money should not be wasted on the revival of Burn Standard as the government had given enough opportunities to the PSU unit for making a turnaround. 

“Do you want your money which you pay as the tax to be used in the revival of a loss-making unit? Hardly a few people are working. Just to keep those few people on, you want your tax money to be used in that. That money can be used to help a poor family in rural India,” Goyal said while interacting with traders of Lagu Udyog Bharati.

Enough opportunities have been given to these companies to turn efficient but if these companies don’t turn efficient, then I am sure all of you who are paying taxes don’t want your money to be wasted there, he said. The Union Cabinet earlier this year approved the closure of loss-making Burn Standard Company Limited (BSCL) – a Central Public Sector Enterprise (CPSE) – under the Ministry of Railways. 

The Burn Standard Company Limited was incorporated in 1976 following nationalisation and amalgamation of the Burn and Company and the Indian Standard Wagon Company Limited in 1987 under the Department of Heavy Industries (DHI).

The company was referred to the Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) in 1994 and declared sick in 1995. The administrative control of the company was transferred from the DHI to the Ministry of Railways in 2010, as approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

The company is engaged in the manufacturing and repair of wagons and production of steel. Goyal also had a closed doors meeting with the members of the BJP traders cell on the issue of GST in the evening.