AGARTALA, June 23 (TIWN): Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey on Monday demanded immediate rollback of the recent passenger and freight fare hike in railways and said that the decision was indications of possible intrusion of foreign direct investment in the coming days.

 Speaking to reporters in the sidelines of a briefing today, Transport Minister Dey said that the Indian Railways was being deliberately weakened over the years. “Some significant sections of the rail service were already outsourced including catering, maintenance etc. It still remains to be ascertained if there are indications of possible FDI in rail sector soon”, he said.

Referring to the Union Railway ministry’s claim about decisions of the UPA II government about rail fare hike, Transport Minister Dey said, “The UPA alliance was overthrown with such massive margin across the country and the result was a direct outcome of its policies. If the NDA assured ‘acchey din’ ahead, its activities seem to have a mismatch somewhere”.

The decision to hike 14.2 percent rail fare including 4.2 percent rise in fuel charge and the 6.5 percent hike in rail freight charges would affect the common people and transport sector, the minister said.

“We, at the state government, can’t support this decision. We demand immediate rollback of the decision”, the Transport Minister stated.