Members of Southern Railway Mazdoor Union’s (SRMU) Ticket Checking Council, Madurai Division, staged a demonstration at the railway station here on Wednesday in protest against Railway Board’s order directing Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTE) to man additional coaches.
During the demonstration, the TTEs urged the Railway Board to fill the vacancies immediately and not to overburden them with additional work.
“In accordance with an order of the Board, issued in 2000, we looked after two to three coaches on trains that start before 9 p.m. But the Board issued another order on March 14, 2014, asking us to look after five upper class coaches or three sleeper coaches,” said C.D. Nagarajan, chairman of Ticket Checking Council.
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“This is mainly because they have not filled the retirement vacancies. It is an impossible task for a TTE to man over five coaches. We will have to check identity cards of the passengers, take care of their amenities and address their complaints,” he added.
According to the TTEs, the changed rule will affect the public most. “While manning five coaches, we need a lot of time to complete checking. Sometimes, on the trains that leave a station after 9 p.m., the passengers would have crossed half the distance or will be in deep sleep by the time we reach them, and we will have no option but to disturb them,” Mr. Nagarajan noted.
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He presided over the demonstration in the presence of J.M. Rafiq, Madurai district secretary of the SRMU, and B. Saravanan, president of Dindigul district Ticket Checking Council.