The Railways Amendment Bill 2024 seeks to simplify legal framework

Opposition fears privatisation

After Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw introduced the Railways Amendment Bill 2024 in Lok Sabha on Tuesday, opposition leaders alleged that the Bill could be detrimental to the functioning of railways.

 

“The current Bill proposes to simplify the legal framework by incorporating the proposals of the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 in the Railways Act, 1989. This will reduce the need to refer to two laws. Instead, reference will be required only to one law,” Vaishnaw said in his statement of objects and reasons.

 

Fine print of the bill says that the Centre will prescribe the qualification, experience and terms and conditions of appointment of the Chairman and the other Members of the Board and the manner of filling up the posts.

 

 

“This bill is a backdoor entry which can lead to privatisation, and can undermine the autonomy of the Indian Railways,” Congress’ Manoj Kumar said during the discussion on the bill on Tuesday.

 

But a private sector expert said that there appears to be no linkage between the fine print of the bill and privatisation of railways -- a sensitive subject for the Centre as it has faced criticism for it in the past.

 

“There is no provision in the bill for privatisation or changing the functioning of Indian Railways as such. Nor does it advocate any restructuring in the highest decision-making. The criticism in that regard is unfounded. It’s a paper-cutting exercise which will streamline the functioning of the railway board,” said a senior railway board official, requesting anonymity.

 

The Union minister told Parliament that the functioning and independence of the Railway Board will be enhanced with this Bill.

 

“All the provisions in the Indian Railway Board Act, 1905 are proposed to be incorporated in the Railways Act, 1989 through this Bill,” he said.

 

Among other things, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Surpiya Sule said that a look at the legislation suggests that it could take powers away from the Parliament and hand them solely to the central government when it comes to matters regarding the national transporter.

 

The government argues that the two legislations could have been simplified back in 1989 as well, when a fresh legislation for the national transporter was passed by the Parliament, and that it is simply taking up the task which should have been done then.

 

Several other opposition leaders raised the issues of the possibility of caste and gender disparities in the board and asked the government to ensure that the marginalised are equitably represented at the railway board.

 

In 2022, the board saw its first woman chairman and chief executive officer in Jaya Varma Sinha, and the following year, Satish Kumar, a Dalit bureaucrat, was tasked to lead the organisation for the first time.

 

Moreover, the issue of accidents and infrastructure gaps was also raised, with parties alleging that the bill does not address critical issues faced by common people, seeking an increase in general coaches in trains.