Station masters to go on fast from April 15

AHMEDABAD, APRIL 9: Station masters of all eight divisions of the Western Railways will participate in an indefinite relay fast at the di...

AHMEDABAD, APRIL 9: Station masters of all eight divisions of the Western Railways will participate in an indefinite relay fast at the divisional railway manager’s office in Vadodara from April 15, as part of their country-wide agitation against suppression and neglect.

Divisional president of the All India Station Masters’ Association P A Chaudhary told The Indian Express today that the hunger strike in Delhi would begin in front of Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s residence “until our demands are met”. Vajpayee had been president of the association for 12 years, Chaudhary said, adding that parallel programmes would be held in all nine zones of the Indian Railways.

According to Chaudhary, the 30,000-odd station masters in the country are the most suppressed and exploited lot in the Indian Railways, the world’s largest work force.

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He said nurses and even those working under the station masters were getting better salaries. There has been no upgradation of the station master’s post, despite the increase in the workload following the introduction of trains every year. The demands include better way, elimination of EI roster for the station masters and restoration of social life on holidays.

Chaudhary said the uniforms supplied to the station masters made them look like clowns as they did not fit. The station masters, he said, should be given uniforms, washing allowances and stitching charges as is being done in the case of guards and drivers, besides running allowance as “the station masters bear more responsibility (sic) of train operations and accidents”.