All is not well with the Indian Railways, it seems. Recently, Loco Pilots belonging to the All India Loco Running Staff Association, submitted a detailed memorandum to the General Manager, South Zone demanding restriction of duty hours from the present 11/12 hours per person to the 10 hours stipulated in the rule book. Further, quoting from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention R161 of 1979, they have demanded a weekly rest day available to all other workers of the national passenger-and-goods-transportation behemoth. More poignantly, they have also sought a reduction in the duration of their outstation stay from 72 hours to 48 hours to enable them to spend enough time with their families as other workers do.
How the Railways Ministry, which is increasingly catering to the better-off segments of society with Vande Bharat Expresses and their like at the expense of the aam janta which travels in the choc-a-bloc General Class and Sleeper Coaches- will respond to these demands, remains to be seen. Lest we forget, these ‘engine drivers’ keep India i.e., Bharat — from Kashmir to Kanyakumari — well connected and sufficiently provisioned but whose names we never get to know as there are no cabin crew announcements like those made on commercial flights. Their legitimate demands deserve attention and appropriate action.