NEW DELHI: The massive damage caused to railway properties during the nationwide protests against the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the armed forces has prompted the government to consider adding more teeth to the Railways Act in order to protect its property during agitations.
While making an appeal to the protesters not to ransack the railway property, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, speaking at an event on Saturday, said steps would be taken soon to strengthen the Railways Act and also to ensure the safety and security of railway property. He urged the protestors not to take the law into their hands and said the Modi government was listening to their concerns with full sensitivity. “I think, now the need is to further strengthen the Railways Act and we will take action on this so that railway property can be protected,” Vaishnaw said, adding that vandalising public property and disrupting rail services would not fetch any solution.
As per the existing law, whosoever damages railway property is charged under Section 151 of the Indian Railway Act under which the person can be sentenced to a maximum of seven years’ imprisonment.
Trains and buses are often the first targets of mobs during any protest in India. During the current protests, too, arsonists have set ablaze several train coaches and engines and caused widespread damage to other railway properties on fire worth over `200 crore.
The stir has also led to huge loss in revenues earned from ticket bookings as hundreds of trains have been disrupted.“A total 371 trains were affected, including 210 mail and 150 passenger trains cancelled, in the last three days due to the violent agitation. Over a dozen trains were diverted and 100 partially terminated,” said a Railway official on Saturday.
Sources said 10 trains were set on fire till Friday in agitation and more than 40 coaches in different parts of the country with the maximum number of such incidents reported alone from Bihar. On saturday, toom protesters struck Taregana railway station in Masaurhi sub-division of Patna district. A statement by the East Central Railway, headquartered in Hajipur, said, “The train operations will be allowed keeping in view of the safety of passengers and railway property from 8 pm on June 18 to 4 am on June 19, again from 8 pm to 4 am on June 20.”
govt open to talks: Thakur
New Delhi: Union minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday appealed to the youths protesting against the Agnipath scheme to shun violence and come forward for talks, asserting that the government is ready to look into their grievances with an “open mind” and make changes “if required”.