At least 30 railway union functionaries were detained on Friday in Ahmedabad in Gujarat for holding a protest ahead of the inauguration of a premium Tejas train to be operated by PSU Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).
The Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas train was flagged off by Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Friday morning.
Members of the Western Railway Employees Union and Western Railway Mazdoor Sangh held a protest outside Kalapur railway station against what they claimed was moves by the Narendra Modi government to privatise the public transporter.
"The union members had gathered at the venue of the train flag off to hold protests. Since they did not have permission for the protest, we detained 30 of them. They were released after the official function got over," said a railway police official.
Talking to reporters, WRMS leader Kantilal Parmar said, "The Central government is not talking to unions on contentious issues. Everything is being privatised, be it trains like Tejas or railway colonies. We are opposed to these moves."
He claimed employees were on the verge of losing their jobs and the railway ministry had stopped fresh recruitment in the transport behemoth.
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