DYFI’s Rail Roko Agitation: A Reflection of Youth Anger Against the Modi Govt

India is witnessing a spring of massive agitations on different fronts against the anti-people policies of the Modi regime. These agitations clearly indicate that the people who were suffering under the policies of economic liberalisation and privatisation are mounting significant resistance as their means of livelihood are under direct threat from government policies. The young population of the country including students, workers and farmers are participating in these agitations in large numbers. One crucial factor which is pushing the youth into such protests is the rampant unemployment which India is currently facing. Under the Modi government, the country is moving from jobless growth to job-lost growth.

In a bid to sell out public wealth to corporates, the Modi government has been speeding up its privatisation efforts. The Indian railways which is the largest public sector enterprise in the world in terms of employment is on the brink of complete sell-out. The Modi government's slogan is 'Railway by market, not by government'. The government appointed a committee under Niti Ayog member Bibek Debroy for looking into the prospects of getting private investors to “develop” railways. The recommendations submitted by the committee constitute nothing but a comprehensive roadmap to privatise the Railways. The committee recommended the removal of the centralised authority of the Railway Board, and splitting the railways into three different sectors – policymaking, regulations and operations. This splitting is aimed at easing the privatisation initiatives.

The government has already opened up the railways for 100% FDI. As part of this, the French corporation Alstom and the American corporation General Electricals got contracts for constructing locomotive factories at Madhepura and Mehrora respectively. The contract is worth Rs. 40,000 crore and would cost three times more than the railway-owned domestic production units.

The government is trying to literally sell out the major railway stations as well. Many stations have been put up for auctions. At the same time, attempts to informalise the labour force are also going on. Already around 4 lakh railway jobs are in contract mode and there is an undeclared ban on permanent appointments. In the safety department alone, 1.6 lakh posts are lying vacant despite increasing rail accidents. There are a total of 2,23,159 reported unfilled vacancies in the Railways as of now and among them, 41,128 are for the SC/STs.

The recent Rail Roko agitation organised by the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) against the attempts by Modi government to sell out Indian Railways to private corporates witnessed huge participation across the country. Militant protests occurred at more than 135 centres in 14 States. Trains were stopped at many major stations across the country by thousands of young protesters, and there were brutal assaults by state forces including the police and the Railway Protection Force (RPF).

In Kerala, trains were stopped at all 12 major stations on 13 February by huge gatherings of protesters. In two districts where there is no railway connectivity, the DYFI activists took out youth marches to central government offices. In Tamil Nadu, protesters stopped trains at 10 stations and faced ruthless lathi charge by the police. More than 500 activists were arrested in the State. In Telangana, protestors stopped trains at eleven stations, and in Andhra, at four stations.

In West Bengal, Rail Roko protests took place in 60 stations on 16 February. In Jadavpur, a train driver ran the rake into the gathering of protesting activists, resulting in 64 people getting injured. In Purulia, the combined forces of CRPF and RPF charged at the activists and many were arrested. In Orissa, 12 stations witnessed militant protests by youth activists. The Rail Roko protest call received good reception in North India as well. In Bihar, trains were stopped at 8 centres and in UP, at four places. More than 40 protesters were arrested in UP. Dehradun (Uttarakhand), Shimla (HP), Rohtak (Haryana), Banga (Punjab) and four centres in Rajasthan also witnessed train stopping protests by the DYFI.

The Modi-led BJP government which came to power promising two crore new jobs for youth every year has failed miserably to keep its any election promises. The youth of India who are being pushed towards untold misery and poverty due to unemployment is rising up against the government. The success of the Rail Roko agitation is a reflection of this anger and discontent taking more organised forms.

Carrying this movement forward, the DYFI is going to organise joint conventions of young workers and farmers in all States to coordinate more effective agitations against the BJP government.

[The author is the all India President of the DYFI.]

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are the author's personal views, and do not necessarily represent the views of Newsclick.