Railway union for filling up of Vacancies

Railway union warns over shortage of staff, supports fare hike

Saturday, March 03, 2012, 

Thane: Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh (CRMS) on Saturday said that privatisation, outsourcing, and shortage of staff were creating safety issues. It also supported the proposal to hike fares.

Addressing a press conference ahead of the Safety Week of the Indian Railways, R P Bhatnagar, CRMS president, said here that union had requested the administration to fill up the vacancies many times, but to no avail.

On the Mumbai suburban local network, around 1,000 motormen were needed as against the current strength of 705, he said.

Even in the maintenance department, there were 559 vacancies, he said.

The shortage of manpower may put the safety of trains and passengers in peril, he warned.

Bhatnagar also said that there had been no increase in fares for the last ten years, which contributed to funds crunch, and CRMS would support the administration if it were to increase fares.

The Railways was running services in several unproductive sectors which added up to the losses, he alleged.

PTI