The Railways have invited fresh tenders for a two-year contract to clean the Shoranur railway station.
The move was necessitated by a 13-day ongoing strike by the cleaning staff, employed by a Mumbai-based private contractor, demanding Onam bonus. The Railways have failed to negotiate with the contractor since he is reportedly not keen on renewing the contract which ends on September 30. The workers had struck work many times in the last one year alleging non-payment of salary by the contractor.
The contractor said that he had paid September's salary a month in advance for Onam festival on September 5. He also said that he was not bound to pay bonus as per contract. The strike, which began on September 8, has affected cleaning and sanitation works at the station, causing stench and posing major health hazards.
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The Railways have provided the station with 15 of its permanent cleaning staff. However, the lack of enough manpower is telling on the sanitation work.