Press release of All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) of East Central Railway
(Translation of Hindi press release)
Press Release
All India Loco Running Staff Association
Reg. No.- 17903
The Central Committee of All India Loco Running Staff Association has taken up the matter of various issues of loco running staff such as
- Duty hours 8 hours,
- Rest hours – Headquarters rest – 16+2, outstation rest 8+2, weekly rest 30+16,
- Return to headquarters in 36 hours,
- Preventing assistant drivers from becoming responsible for getting load stabilized and carrying FSD like porters,
- Risk allowance to assistant drivers,
- Installation of air conditioners in loco cabs, installation of tool kit and FSD in engines,
- Removal of CVVRS cameras,
- Withdrawal of NPS/UPS and restoration of OPS.
For these demands, hundreds of employees of All India Loco Running Staff Association organized demonstrations in front of all five Divisional Railway Manager offices of East Central Railway (Dhanbad, DDU, Sonpur, Samastipur, Danapur) from 10 am to 3 pm on 24 September 2024.
This program was also supported by East Central Railway Employees Union-affiliated to Indian Railway Employees Federation and by All India Guard Council.
Today’s program in Dhanbad was presided over by Com. S.K. Singh, Divisional President/AILRSA and conducted by Com. G.S.P. Singh.
Com. S.K. Singh said that today, due to the wrong policies of the Government of India, lakhs of posts are lying vacant in the railways, which also include posts in the safety category. Due to vacancies in the safety category, accidents are happening every day in the railways. Due to no recruitment by the Government of India and increased operation of additional trains, the loco running staff has to bear the burden of additional work. Working hours are constantly increasing, and therefore rest is being cut short.
Com. SP Sahu, Working President of ECREU, said that today, demonstrations are being held in every lobby of the whole of India. Hundreds of people have gathered in every lobby of Dhanbad at the running staff office. When accidents happen in the railways, the head of the railways, the Railway Minister, gives absurd statements in the media. All this is being done to hide the failure of the government. Today, inflation is increasing a lot, the lives of the public and the youth have become miserable. Education is being privatised so that studies are ruined. As the filling of vacancies was stopped for 10 years, an army of the unemployed has been created in India, who keep protesting from the streets to the Parliament.
Com. B.R. Singh, former Central President of Guard Council, said that people need employment but the government is not ready to listen. People are being engaged in irrelevant matters related to temples and mosques.
Com. R.K. Pandey, Joint Divisional Secretary, said that the High Court has ordered that the loco running staff should get 36+16 hours of periodic rest, at least 16+2 hours at the headquarters and 6+2 hours in the running room. The HPC committee has recommended returning to the headquarters in 36 hours, but they are also keeping workers out of the headquarters for 3–4 days. The railways has also accepted that continuous duty will not be allowed for more than two nights, but they are still allowing this to happen.
Zonal convenor of Front Against NPS in Railway, Com. Uday Mahato, said that the employees are demanding implementation of OPS in its original form. Employees are not ready to accept UPS. The slogan of the employees is that they want OPS in its original form or else the struggle will continue.
Com. D B Deen, Central Assistant General Secretary, said that loco pilots’ working hours are 12–16 hours, which are being manipulated by switching off CMS in places without running rooms. Assistant loco pilots are given the duty of tying hand brakes and carrying FSD, they are being made to work like porters in the name of load stability in the station. This is a failure of the railway administration. Due to such actions, many loco running staff are performing duty under a lot of stress. Moreover, assistant loco pilots are being made to do escort duty in addition to their duty hours, in violation of order number 143/2016. Dhanbad Divisional Railway Manager is responsible for all this. In protest against all this, today’s demonstration has been organized in front of the Divisional Manager’s office.
From ECREU, Com. Sunil Kumar Singh, Divisional Secretary, and Com. SP Sahu participated in Dhanbad, Com. Sandeep Paswan and Com. Ajay Kumar Gupta in Sonpur, Com. Sanjiv Misra in Samastipur, Com. Santosh Paswan and Com. Santosh Kumar Sharma in DDU, and Vishwanath ji in Danapur.
