NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi ’s interaction with loco pilots at the New Delhi station has snowballed into a big controversy after Northern Railway said the drivers were not from the Delhi Division. Officials said the loco pilots and crew members shown in the video posted by Congress were either from other divisions or were brought.
However, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) of South Zone said it’s immaterial to focus on which division the loco pilots were from as long as they have raised grievances that are common to all such divisions. “The issues raised by the crew members related to adequate rest and night duty concerns of everyone. So, it doesn’t matter crew members from which division raised the issue with the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. We have also given a memorandum to him highlighting matters, including serious safety issues,” said R Kumaresan, president of South Zone AILRSA.
Rahul’s visit to the station and interaction with train crew members came barely hours after railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw charged opposition parties of creating “false narratives” with old video clips and trying to “demotivate” railway personnel. He urged leaders to refrain from doing this.
The video posted by Congress on its social media handle shows Rahul visiting the crew lobby, interacting with loco pilots and others, and trying to understand their issues.
Hours later, spokesperson of Northern Railway, Deepak Kumar said, “Rahul Gandhi visited the railway station along with 7-8 cameramen. They visited the crew lobby and understood how it works. He interacted with loco pilots who were not from our lobby. It seems they were from outside or were brought. The camera persons were making some films and reels as well.”
The video shared by Congress claims that the main complaint that loco pilots raised before Rahul was not getting enough rest, which is one of the main causes of accidents. It said they are demanding 46 hours’ rest in a week as per rules and shortage of loco pilots.
Kumaresan said they had written to leaders of political parties, including Rahul, highlighting their issues. They were informed on Friday that he would meet loco pilots. “We had a meeting here and hence there were people from different divisions. We had written to the railway minister and Railway Board chairperson. Honouring their words that our grievances would be resolved we had withdrawn agitation. But there is no progress so far,” he added.
Highlighting the plight of train drivers, the memorandum note given to Rahul mentions that loco pilots, especially those who drive goods trains, work 14-16 hours a day and get to go home after three or four days. It said drivers work for more than four consecutive nights and instead of getting weekly rest, they are given rest once in 10 days.
The memorandum also said that a railway task force on safety in 2017 found that overshooting of red signals happens mostly when loco pilots return after “inadequate weekly rest”. It said, “Whereas all staff are entitled to a weekly rest between 40 and 64 hours but loco pilots are entitled to only 30.”
However, the All India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) of South Zone said it’s immaterial to focus on which division the loco pilots were from as long as they have raised grievances that are common to all such divisions. “The issues raised by the crew members related to adequate rest and night duty concerns of everyone. So, it doesn’t matter crew members from which division raised the issue with the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha. We have also given a memorandum to him highlighting matters, including serious safety issues,” said R Kumaresan, president of South Zone AILRSA.
Rahul’s visit to the station and interaction with train crew members came barely hours after railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw charged opposition parties of creating “false narratives” with old video clips and trying to “demotivate” railway personnel. He urged leaders to refrain from doing this.
The video posted by Congress on its social media handle shows Rahul visiting the crew lobby, interacting with loco pilots and others, and trying to understand their issues.
Hours later, spokesperson of Northern Railway, Deepak Kumar said, “Rahul Gandhi visited the railway station along with 7-8 cameramen. They visited the crew lobby and understood how it works. He interacted with loco pilots who were not from our lobby. It seems they were from outside or were brought. The camera persons were making some films and reels as well.”
The video shared by Congress claims that the main complaint that loco pilots raised before Rahul was not getting enough rest, which is one of the main causes of accidents. It said they are demanding 46 hours’ rest in a week as per rules and shortage of loco pilots.
Kumaresan said they had written to leaders of political parties, including Rahul, highlighting their issues. They were informed on Friday that he would meet loco pilots. “We had a meeting here and hence there were people from different divisions. We had written to the railway minister and Railway Board chairperson. Honouring their words that our grievances would be resolved we had withdrawn agitation. But there is no progress so far,” he added.
Highlighting the plight of train drivers, the memorandum note given to Rahul mentions that loco pilots, especially those who drive goods trains, work 14-16 hours a day and get to go home after three or four days. It said drivers work for more than four consecutive nights and instead of getting weekly rest, they are given rest once in 10 days.
The memorandum also said that a railway task force on safety in 2017 found that overshooting of red signals happens mostly when loco pilots return after “inadequate weekly rest”. It said, “Whereas all staff are entitled to a weekly rest between 40 and 64 hours but loco pilots are entitled to only 30.”
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