Joining today,first 3 of 66 motormen barred from going on strike

They cannot be forced by their colleagues to go on strike either.

Besides Priti Kumar,the others joining Tuesday are Hansraj Rajkumar Meena and Amodh Kumar Singh. “The first motorwoman will run her first train at 2.29 pm from Churchgate to Borivali,” said Girish Pillai,WR divisional railway manager (Mumbai).

After a strike on May 3 and 4,2010,the WR administration decided to get all new motormen trained under the Territorial Army. Besides being barred from striking work,such employees also get extra points in their confidential reports.

At present,around 200 employees have been embodied under the Territorial Army at WR’s Mumbai division,but few motormen were trained under it.

“For around five years,motormen have not sent for such training. But now we need to ensure some staff don’t hold the entire city to ransom,” a railway official said.

The training of the first batch of 66,completed last month,included the use of guns and the operation of tanks. Railway sources said the 66 were from among 70 motormen who had been trained in the Mahalaxmi workshop and were driving trains under the supervision of their seniors.

Railway Territorial Army units were raised as an auxiliary force in 1949 under Territorial Army Act,1949,for maintaining railway communication during difficult times. The 1031 Railway Engineers Regiment in Kota is one of six in the country.