Govt not to privatise CIL, railways, says Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that the government will not privatise Coal India or the Indian Railways.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that the government will not privatise Coal India or the Indian Railways.

Addressing the trade unions at a pre budget meeting Jaitley said that focus of the government was to create more jobs and employment opportunities while protecting the existing jobs for which large investments need to pour in especially into the infrastructure sector.

Jaitley said over 63% of the country’s population was in age group of 15-59 years. He added that the challenge for the country was to plan and act towards converting its ‘potential’ into enhanced opportunities of growth by dovetailing the quality of manpower through skill development.

The Centre was also working affirmatively to bring a single uniform law for MSME sector to ensure their operational efficiency and improve productivity while ensuring job creation at a large scale, Jaitely said, adding that skill deficit among the labour force is a major factor driving large numbers towards low income levels and perpetrates inequality.