Alleges harassment at the hands of their seniors
Mumbai : Alleging harassment at the hands of their senior railway officials – motormen on Friday threatened to hold the city to ransom.
The off-duty motormen came out of their lobby located in the administrative building and sat on the Churchgate station as a mark of their protest. The protest went for an hour until Mumbai BJP President Ashish Shelar intertwined and assured to take up the matter with the association.
The motormen alleged that the administration took sever actions including suspending them from work for minor mistakes and deducted their salaries. Devendra Yadav associated with Western Railway Motorman Association said, “The officials call motormen to their cabin for trivial mistakes and abused them also threatening them. They were frequently threatened of dire consequences putting them on work tremendous work pressure, which leads to several lapses.”
In a letter to the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) the association attributed the rise in the incidences of platform overshooting along with trains crossing the red signal for the pressure but on them from the administration. They further alleged that the motorman are also taken up for complaining to higher ups about the atrocities inflicted on them. They are often summon to the divisional office to create a situation of panic amongst others as well as the are given night duties at a stretch while according to the rule it has to be only once in 10 days. However, a senior railway official rubbishing the allegations said, “The motorman who was given the nigh duty when ten coaches of his train overshot the signal at Charni Road.”
“Another motorman was punished after he could not perform troubleshooting while one of the motor coach developed problems. Such incidences cannot be taken lightly and the actions taken are as per the rule of the railways,” added the official.
While the railway administration denied having any written communication from the motormen association they have been preparing for the strike. A batch of motormen were put on guard in the shed to take over the as suburban motormen incase a strike like situation occurs. The motormen who were holding meeting with the administration till late in the evening have demanded for the transfer of the Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (Operations).
