Railways turns to yoga to help tired drivers relax and stay better in control

The Railway Safety Review Committee, headed by Justice H.R. Khanna, had recommended that yoga and meditation lessons be imparted to the operational staff at railway training centres. The committee had said ‘‘as the job performed by the railwaymen is very strenuous, yoga and meditation will help them cope with the stress and strain of the job.’’ The railway training centres at Tughlakabad, Jamalpur and Chandausi, have started imparting yoga and meditation training to the operational staff. The other training centres are also going to follow the example for one year ‘‘on an experimental basis.’’

But there is a spoke in the wheel. ‘‘The railway ministry has set aside Rs 250 per month as retainership for a yoga instructor.

We are facing serious problems in getting somebody for that kind of money. We have requested the ministry to consider increasing the amount,’’ said Amitabh, senior divisional mechanical engineer in charge of the diesel shed and training centre at Tughlakabad, which does not have a regular yoga instructor.

At present, Om Prakash Uppal, a senior loco inspector who retired last year, has been voluntarily teaching yoga to the drivers. ‘‘I learnt yoga from Morarji Desai Yoga Institute for 14 years. I personally found it very useful in remaining alert and concentrating better. I did not have to take leave on account of ill health even for a day. I come here to help the other running staff so they can perform their job in peace without any worry. Once they are behind the wheel, they have to forget all other problems. Their only concern should be safety of passengers,’’ said Uppal.

Operational staff, coming for training to upgrade their driving skills at Tughlakabad, hoped that yoga would help them concentrate on the job. ‘‘We have to be exceptionally careful since the lives of so many passengers depend on us,’’ said one of the drivers from Moradabad division. Most accidents, as railway records show, take place either late at night or during early morning.

‘‘That is the time when the drivers tend to get a little lax, causing a momentary loss of concentration. And that can prove fatal,’’ said a senior railway ministry official.

However, he added, the driver himself was doubly cautious since even a single casualty is taken very seriously by the authorities, affecting his record. A railway man has to pass several stringent tests before he becomes a driver, starting with a goods train, moving on to a passenger train and then graduating to a fast train like Rajdhani or Shatabdi. At each level, he has to undergo training and yoga has become an integral part of it.

Amitabh said yoga would help drivers in self-realisation, in becoming more focused and most important, taking pride in their work. ‘‘Once they know that their job is crucial to lakhs of passengers who travel in trains, they will perform better,’’ he said.