Licensed porters should be entitled to privilege passes, their porterage charges should be increased and their services should be utilised on rotation basis for loading and unloading at the railway parcel offices, said general secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) M. Raghavaiah.
Addressing hundreds of licensed porters, who came from different railway zones in the country to participate in the All-India Railway Licensed Porters Conference, at the Railway Institute here on Tuesday, Mr. Raghavaiah expressed concern at the dismal working conditions of railway porters. While welcoming the change in nomenclature of porters as ‘Sahayaks’, he called upon the Railways to provide them better amenities.
The struggles by NFIR had led to one time absorption of licensed porters as trackmen during the tenure of Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav.
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There are 36,000 porters over Indian Railway and they were seeking re-implementation of the same scheme to absorb them as gangmen. NFIR vice president K.S. Murty said that the union would strive to achieve better working conditions for railway porters.
Reception Committee chairman B. Krishna Kumar said that the railways had stopped utilising their services for loading and unloading of parcels and wanted it to be resumed so that they could get assured income.
The NFIR has been waging a relentless battle for achieving the demands of railway porters and it would continue to exert pressure on the present government at the Centre.
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East Coast Railway Shramik Congress general secretary R.C. Sahoo, joint general secretary Tammineni Narasinga Rao and INTUC leaders participated.