Report received from Indian Railway Signal and Telecom Maintainers’ Union (IRSTMU)
Employees of Signal and Telecom (S&T) Department of the Indian Railways are being forced to take short cuts. Disconnections are not being given by the traffic control.
Since last year, S&T employees are facing many difficulties in working. Traffic control has started creating many obstacles in giving disconnection for the maintenance of signal and telecom gears. In the past years, we never had to face such a problem, but now the control is showing reluctance in giving disconnection even to those gears on which only few trains or no train is affected.
Not giving disconnection in this manner is leading to serious problems and is forcing signal and telecom employees to take short cuts. This is a danger to the safety and security of the Railways. In the railway safety instructions, it has been ensured that signalling gears are given disconnection. But to follow the railway safety instructions, disconnection of signalling gears should also be ensured with equal ease so that there is no need to take any kind of short cut.
Indian Railway Signal and Telecom Maintainers’ Union (IRSTMU), General Secretary, Alok Chandra Prakash expressed his concerns on this serious issue said that there is a need to draw the attention of the administration on this serious issue. The way the traffic control is acting arbitrarily and refusing to disconnect the signalling gears is condemnable.