Members of the All-India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) on Tuesday launched a two-day relay hunger strike in Hubballi to press for their long-pending demands.
The members of the Hubballi Division (South Western Railway) unit of the association staged a sit-in in front of the office of the general manager of SWR on Gadag Road here. It was in response to the call for a nationwide protest given by the association’s national body condemning the inordinate delay in finalising running allowance for loco pilots.
The protesting loco pilots first took out a march from Hubballi railway station to the GM’s office, where they staged a hunger strike. They raised slogans against the Railway Board and the Union government.
The office-bearers of the Hubballi Division unit, in a memorandum, stated that the Running Allowance Committee (RAC 1980) had, after a detailed study, derived a methodology to calculate the allowance. However, the railway management is unnecessarily delaying finalisation of the rate, they said.
They said their main demand was revising the running allowance as per the RAC 1980 formula, rectifying the anomalous order (RBE 13/2018) on revision of pension, and ensuring parity in pension between pre- and post-2016 retired staff.
The agitation is to conclude on Wednesday.
In Raichur
Raichur Staff Reporter writes:
Members of All-India Loco Running Staff Association, South Central Zone, and the entire running staff, launched a two-day hunger strike from Tuesday to urge the Railway Board to revise the running allowances rate.
They gathered outside the railway station and shouted slogans against the Railway Board for not considering their demand to increase the allowances for loco running staff. The protesters said that currently, they were being paid ₹250 a km for loco running staff, not ₹748 a km as per the RAC-1980 formula. Retirement benefits have not been paid as per the 7th Pay Commission guidelines, they added.
They warned of a nationwide protest if they demands were not considered.
