This speech of Narendra Modi ruling out the privatisation of Indian Railways was made after he became the Prime Minister - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 9, 2022
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as old visuals of how Narendra Modi had ruled out the privatisation of Indian Railways before he became the Prime Minister of the country. In the video, Narendra Modi proclaims Railways as an integral part of his life and said he won’t let Railways get privatised till his last breath. This post claims Narendra Modi had made these comments during the previous Congress government in the country. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Narendra Modi’s statement about privatisation of Indian Railways before he became the Prime Minister of the country.
Fact: Narendra Modi made these comments in December 2014, after he became the Prime Minister of the country. On 25 December 2014, while addressing a rally in Varanasi, Narendra Modi ruled out the rumours of privatisation of Railways and said that people must not be wary of foreign and private capital that is being just utilised for improving the infrastructure of the Indian Railways. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched for the credible details of the video using relevant keywords, we found the same video published on the ‘NDTV’ news YouTube channel on 25 September 2014. ‘NDTV’ reported that Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally in Varanasi had ruled out the privatisation of Railways. A few other news channels have also published the same visuals with a similar description. They can be seen here and here.
Reporting the complete details of Narendra Modi’s speech at the Varanasi rally, several news websites published articles in December 2015. They can be seen here and here. According to the reports, Narendra Modi said, “There is a misunderstanding that Railways is being privatised. However, I want to make it clear that we are not privatising Railways. We cannot go in this direction. You don’t have to worry. It is neither our wish nor thinking”. Narendra Modi had ruled out the rumours of privatisation of Railways and said that people must not be wary of foreign and private capital that is being just utilised for improving the infrastructure of the Indian Railways.
In 2020, the Narendra Modi government had made a first move to privatise Railways by inviting private players to run 151 trains. Lately, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reiterated in Lok Sabha that the Centre has no policy to privatise the national transporter but, emphasised the need for the sector to accept the latest technology to meet the aspirations of the passengers, especially in terms of safety and comfort. Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the technology should be indigenous like the contribution of Integral Coach Factory (ICF) to Vande Bharat Express, and take the sector forward.
To sum it up, this speech of Narendra Modi ruling out the privatisation of Railways was made after he became the Prime Minister of the country.