Members of the All India Loco Running Staff Association staged a protest march in front of the Railway Divisional Manager’s (RDM) office in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, demanding that loco pilots be given adequate time to rest and other facilities to ensure that rail accidents do not happen.
They demanded that staff who were cut off payrolls be reinstated and sought the implementation of the Railway Board’s 58 recommendations for safe rail traffic. P. Karunakaran, MP, said the trend of sacking railway staff, blaming them for every accident, should be stopped. Former Minister N.K. Premachandran said Railways’ unjustified punitive measures would demoralise employees. The agitators, led by Mr. Karunakaran, later held discussions with the RDM.
