BRS leaders demand gazette notification for Kazipet coach factory conversion
A delegation of BRS leaders on Monday demanded that South Central Railway General Manager Sanjay Kumar Srivastava release an official gazette regarding the up-gradation of the wagon manufacturing unit at Kazipet into a full-fledged railway coach manufacturing unit. Led by senior leader B Vinod Kumar, the delegation met the General Manager to address several demands aimed at clearing public confusion surrounding the project. Vinod recalled that the previous BRS government had allocated 160 acres of land valued at over Rs 380 crore for this purpose. Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for a wagon unit on 8 July 2023, the decision caused widespread disappointment in Telangana due to the neglect of the original coach factory proposal.
Public awareness later grew regarding a Railway Board letter dated 18 September 2024, which instructed the General Manager of SCR and the Managing Director of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited to upgrade the facility. However, Vinod noted that significant doubts and confusion persist among the local population regarding the actual progress of this up-gradation. Stating that the slogan Our Jobs Must Be for Us was a central pillar of the Telangana statehood struggle, the BRS leader emphasised that the decades-long demand for the Kazipet facility was intended to catalyse regional economic growth and resolve acute unemployment.
The delegation strongly demanded an 80 per cent reservation for local youth, citing precedents set by similar units in Latur, Maharashtra. They also raised concerns for families who surrendered their land for the project, as many are still awaiting formal confirmation of promised rehabilitation and employment measures.
Vinod urged the immediate release of an official recruitment roadmap to provide clarity to unemployed local youth. To ensure these candidates meet technical requirements, he suggested that SCR establish specialised training centres in Warangal or Kazipet. Furthermore, the BRS leader highlighted that despite the role of Kazipet as a major junction connecting North and South India, the demand for a dedicated Kazipet Railway Division remains pending. With the formation of the South Coastal Railway Zone in Andhra Pradesh, several divisions were shifted from the SCR zone. Vinod argued that the formation of a new division within the South Central Railway is now a necessity on both administrative and technical grounds. The delegation concluded that official transparency through a gazette is the only way to reassure the people of Telangana that their regional interests and employment rights are being protected by the railway authorities.