Report of Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
Kamgar Ekta Committee organized a memorial meeting in the memory of Com. A K Srivastav on 20 January 2024. Com. Srivastav passed away of a heart attack on 5 January 2024.
Com. A. Mathew, General Secretary of Kamgar Ekta Committee, presided over the meeting, and Com. Das conducted the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, two minutes silence was observed and flowers were offered to the photo of Com. Srivastav.
Shri Santosh Kumar from All India Guards’ Council, former Treasurer of AIGC Shri Prem Kumar, All India Station Masters’ Association General Secretary Shri Dharmavir Singh Arora, and AISMA Zonal Treasurer Shri Vijay Kashikar, All India Railway Train Controller Association General Secretary Shri Chandan Chaturvedi, All India Railway Trackmaintainers Union Zonal Secretary Com. Pranav Kumar, and members of Kamgar Ekta Committee and other organizations attended the meeting. Com. Srivastav’s two sons were also present from the beginning of the meeting.
Com. A. Mathew in his speech presented a biographical introduction of Com. A K Srivastav ji. Com. AK Srivastav was born on 20 August 1956 in Kolkata. He joined the Indian Railways in 1976 and started working as a Khalasi in the Electricity Department (Class IV). He worked his way up to Guard (Class III) in 1989. He became a member of the All India Guards Council (AIGC) and held several positions, from Branch Secretary and Divisional Secretary to Zonal Secretary, and in the Biennial General Body Meeting (BGM) of AIGC held in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, in 2008, he was elected President of the Executive Committee of the union. In 2010, he was again elected to the same post. In 2012, he was elected General Secretary of AIGC and was re-elected for a second term in 2014 in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh. As General Secretary, he toured the whole of India to build the union.
Com. Srivastav worked to build the unity of category-wise organizations of the railways under the banner of All India Railway Employees Confederation (AIREC). He was the Western Railway Zonal Secretary of AIREC, and he worked to unite various categories, including Guards (AIGC), Loco Pilots (AILRSA), Station Masters (AISMA), Track Maintainers (AIRTU), Signal and Telecom Maintainers (AISTMA), Train Controllers (AITCA), and Ticket Checking Staff (AIRTCSA), for the reconstruction of AIREC. He worked to unite all railway employees against the privatization taking place in the railways.
He also worked extensively in Kamgar Ekta Committee. He had organized an online meeting with the general secretaries of category organizations of railways with the help of KEC during the COVID pandemic. He always worked towards uniting the category organizations.
He was attracted towards communist ideology from the beginning. Later, he became a member of the Communist Ghadar Party of India. He worked diligently to spread the ideology of the party among railway employees. He often carried the party’s paper and other publications to his meetings. Com. Srivastav worked tirelessly to build the unity of railway workers against privatization and the anti-worker policies of the government. He was crippled by a paralytic stroke after the COVID pandemic, but he remained optimistic that he would recover and continue his work of creating unity among railway workers. Com. Mathew ended his speech by expressing condolences to the family of Srivastav ji.
Com. Prem Kumar, Com. Santosh Kumar, Com. Chandan Chaturvedi, Com. Pranav Kumar, Com. Vijay Kashikar and other speakers presented their views and paid tribute to Srivastav ji. Executive Secretary of AIREC and General Secretary of AIGC sent their memorial messages, which were read out in the meeting. In their speeches, many speakers narrated their personal experiences with Srivastav ji. He always worked in the interest of the working class, towards creating unity of the working class. During his tenure, he played a decisive role in increasing the membership of AIGC. He was conscious about the rights of railway employees and worked hard to create unity among various category organizations of the railways against privatization. He used to say that he wants to take VRS so that he can travel across the country to unite railway employees. Despite his position, he faced criticism openly. He was an excellent organizer.
Concluding the meeting, Com. Mathew said that workers should keep fighting for the working class. Railways is the lifeline of the country. When railway workers fight for their rights, all the workers get inspiration to wage struggles. The administration benefits from keeping the railway workers divided. This is the golden jubilee year of the great railway strike of 1974, which brought the entire country’s economy to a standstill and forced the government to declare emergency. Today, attacks on workers are increasing. We will have to create unity among railway employees and strengthen it further. The real tribute to Com. A K Srivastav would be to continue working on the path that Srivastav ji had undertaken towards the goal for which he was working till his last breath.
Red salute to Com. AK Srivastav.