Piyush Goyal, Union Railway Minister, was heckled at by railwaymen.

Shri Piyush Goyal, Union Railway Minister, was heckled at by railway men at Lucknow, on 16^th November,2018. The minister was addressing a convention of the Northern Railway Mazdoor Union (NRMU), affiliated to the All India Railwaymen’s Federation (AIRF). The railway employees were aggrieved by the implementation of the retrograde New Pension Scheme (NPS), exploitation of workers in the name of apprenticeship. Addressing the convention of the NRMU, Shri Piyush Goyal justified the apprenticeship system and made a remark that the railway union leaders are misguiding the youth, in the matter of regularisation of apprentices. Irritated by the remarks of the minister, the railwaymen started shouting slogans and rushed to the dias. Slogans like “Railway Manthri murdabad” were raised. Flower pots were thrown at the minister. As a result of this, the Minister abruptly stopped his speech and he was taken away by the police. The system of apprenticeship is a worst kind of exploitation of labour. Lakhs of highly educated youngsters are engaged as apprentices for years together, and they are being paid a very paltry amount as wages. When the Minister justified this exploitation, the railwaymen naturally got annoyed.