Report by Kamgar Ekta Committee (KEC) correspondent
Denial of sick leave after surgery shows that the Indian Railway administration is not bothered about the well-being and health of its workers who are crucial for safety of passengers. This attitude must be denounced. Only the unity of rail workers will be able to stop such inhuman approach. Workers of the country have to realise that the source of all their problems is the rule of the capitalist class and not the rule of one party or another. The government machinery and all its enterprises, including public sector units work for the benefit of the capitalist class. The well-being of both workers and capitalists at the same time is not possible.
On 2nd March 2026, a loco-pilot of Lucknow Division under the Northern Railway Zone was denied sick leave, even though he undressed himself and showed his piles surgery wound yet unhealed, to the senior officer responsible for sanctioning his leave. The senior officer reportedly told him that due to the Holi festival his leave could not be granted even though the loco-pilot showed to him that he was completely unfit to carry on with duty with his unhealed wound.
This attitude highlights the complete apathy of the railway administration to its workers. It is also a reflection of the attitude with which the capitalist ruling class of our country and government machinery in its service, thinks of the working people. In their eyes, working people are only a cog in their exploitative machinery, to be exploited to their bones, without worrying about their safety and well-being. It is this “profit at any cost” attitude which is one of the root causes of such a large number of vacancies, not only in Indian Railways but across various public sector undertakings. Due to these vacancies not only the workers involved in giving various services like transport, electricity, banking, health, education etc. but the consumers of these services i.e. working people of our country, suffer a lot of hardships.
This specific incident is so straightforward that even the most shameless defenders of government policies will dare not defend the apathy shown by the railway administration.
It is learnt that when the aggrieved loco-pilot told media that, initially he could not get proper treatment in a hospital in Indore for the piles which he has been suffering for a long time, he was forced to get operated in a private hospital in Lucknow on 22nd February. Then he presented his medical treatment papers, bandages and medicines to the concerned senior officer and requested sick leave. He even told the officer to check his past leave record which would prove that he had never taken excessive leave in the past. When the officer refused, he even undressed himself and showed the unhealed wound! Such was the level of his desperation! But the senior officer still flatly refused to grant him leave.
Not left with any other choice, the loco-pilot and his colleagues decided to air their grievances publicly through media.
In response to these developments, the Railway management suspended the loco pilot and one of his colleagues for exposing the incident through a video!
Due to push back from the AILRSA (All India Loco Running Staff Association), and the fighting spirit shown by the loco-pilot and his colleagues, it has been reported that leave has been granted and the suspension order has also been revoked.
Shri K C James, Secretary General, AILRSA commented, “It is so shameful that a loco pilot has to take off his pants before his senior to convince him for medical leave, and then he gets a refusal in return. We work day and night to take people to their destinations so that they can celebrate festivals with their relatives and family members. Is this the kind of treatment we should expect from the Railway administration?”
These comments sum up how frustrated the loco-pilots are with the way they are treated by the railway administration. Similar is the level of frustration of all the working people, whether working in government enterprises or private enterprises.
Workers of the country have to realise that the source of all their problems is the rule of the capitalist class and not the rule of one party or another. The government machinery and all its enterprises, including public sector units work for the benefit of the capitalist class. The well-being of both workers and capitalists at the same time is not possible, because what the capitalist class desires (maximisation of its profits) is completely opposite of and incompatible with what the working class and other toilers desire (well-being and prosperity of all toilers). Workers, along with farmers will have to work towards establishing the rule of their class. Then only such shameful incidents will never recur.