AIRF: Safety of the Railway employees

AIRF requests Railway Board about Safety of the Railway employees

No.AIRF/24(C)

Dated: 5th November, 2018

The Chairman,
Railway Board,
New Delhi

Dear Sir,

Sub: Safety of the Railway employees

This is in reference to my discussion held today with you, wherein I have requested you to review immediately Removal Cases of the Railway employees of Kharagpur Division of S.E. Railway, under para 14(ii), as also to do urgently to save Railwaymen from run-over, forced to work under unsafe conditions without taking block, as happened today between Sandila and Umartali Stations in Northern Railway.

In this connection, your kind attention is invited towards my earlier letters, D.O.No.AIRF/24(C) dated 13th and 17th August, 2018, vide which your kind attention was drawn towards the unpleasant incidents of commitment of suicide by Shri Harrison John, Loco Pilot, Jabalpur Division(West Central Railway) and Shri Bablu Kumar, Trackman, Sholapur (Central Railway).

We had requested your goodself to take necessary steps to ensure that no Railwayman commits suicide in frustration and sense of disappointment. It is quite unfortunate that, there is no visible improvement in the situation up till now, and another case of suicide has been noticed, wherein Shri G.K. Kishori, Asstt. Loco Pilot, Kharagpur, South Eastern Railway, has committed suicide on 3rd November, 2018, out of serious frustration, which is highly condemnable as well.

Co-workers of Late Shri G.K. Kishori had resorted to agitation owing to failure of his superiors to timely address the problem of the said deceased employee and they need not be subjected to any punitive action.

It may be recalled that, on the consistent and regular persuasions, Railway Board had issued instructions, on your intervention, to invoke Clause 14(ii) in exceptional cases only where D&AR enquiry is not practicable and safety of the state is under threat.

Through this letter we want to emphasize here that, urgent necessary steps should be taken by counseling the concerned officials, so that, no Railway employee is compelled to commit suicide and lose his/her precious life as the entire family of such Railway employee is put under serious distress.

We had also requested that, keeping in view various attacks on the Railway employees on duty as also run-over cases of Railway employees due to negligence and overlooking of prescribed procedure and rules need to be given serious thought, so as to avoid recurrence of such unpleasant incidents.

It is also requested that, "Rakshak" should immediately be supplied, as well as you have promised; working on the track without protection must be banned, and if Trackmen are forced to work under unsafe conditions, the deterrent punishment should be given to the guilty supervisors and officers responsible.

While communicating our serious concern over such incidents, AIRF once again emphasizes that necessary steps be taken with all seriousness, so that, no such cases occur in future.

Yours faithfully

(Shiva Gopal Mishra)
General Secretary

Source : http://www.airfindia.org