On the eve of the presentation of the Rail Budget in Parliament this Tuesday, porters at New Delhi railway station have put forth a list of demands for the Union Railway Minister, including a rest room, family passes with increased number of frequencies, besides mandatory old age pension which will enable them to “lead our grey years with dignity”.
Umesh Ram of eastern UP who migrated to Delhi a decade ago and started working as a porter says: “To say the least, porters are the most marginalised and ignored aspect of Indian Railways. Every year the budget has lots of good news for passengers but almost nothing for us. We have told the authorities about our long-standing requirements, with the hope that this year the budget will have something for us as well.”
He argued that porters’ contribution in smooth functioning of the railways and in facilitating good journey experience to passengers have largely been ignored and unacknowledged. “Nobody cares about our problems and how we lead our lives. While we are demonised in the popular perception as somebody who charges exorbitant price for his job, the reality is that our wages need urgent revision to deal with inflation and price rise. We also urgently require medical benefits and pension.”
Abdul Rahman, another porter, adds that porters also need railway passes which allow them to travel free at least thrice a year.
“In spite of the fact that we are almost inseparable part of the Indian Railways, we are not a part of railways either, as we don’t have government jobs. We need a government job and some kind of housing arrangements from the railways.”
Asked about the railways provision for porters to get low-rung jobs, Mr. Rahman responded that the offer to join the railways as gangman, was of almost no use to them. “The provision was of no help to us because most of the porters who tried, could not cope up with the work. Then they did not know about the job as well. There were also a few cases of porters being mowed down by trains while they were on the job, which discouraged the porters from accepting the offer.”
“We don’t have anything to fall back upon in old age as we do not have any pension scheme, neither do we have any medical insurance benefits,” says Mr. Rahman, who is in his sixties, highlighting that while their red uniform adds spice to the railway station their own life was “devoid of colour”.
