Forum intensifies stir against railway station redevelopment

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT THE HINDU  KOZHIKODE,AUGUST 10, 2017 

CITU national president A.K. Padmanabhan with trade union leaders at a meeting against the redevelopment of Kozhikode railway station, in the city on Wednesday.S. Ramesh Kurup 

To organise ‘human fort’ in front of Kozhikode station on September 27

As part of intensifying its agitation against Kozhikode railway station redevelopment, the Railway Station Protection Committee has decided to organise a ‘human fort’ in front of the Kozhikode railway station at 5 p.m. on September 27.

The committee, an umbrella organisation of various employees’ unions led by the Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU) that organised a convention at the Town Hall here on Wednesday, decided to galvanise the support of hundreds of people from different walks of life in the protest against the decision of the Railway Ministry to redevelop the station. Speaking after inaugurating the convention, CITU national president A.K. Padmanabhan said the voice from Kozhikode against privatisation should be reverberated across the country. The privatisation of the Railways was only an extension of privatisation taking place in all sectors, he said.

The neo-liberal policies that began in 1991 paved the way for protecting the interests of the corporate world, he said. Over the past 26 years, these policies spread their tentacles in all spheres of activity, he added.

The situation was not different in road, water and air transportation sectors. All contracts favoured big construction companies. Only through strong resistance and vigorous campaigns, attempts to privatise the Railways could be curtailed, he said.

Representatives of All-India Loco Running Staff Association, All-India Guards Council, All India Station Masters Association and Indian Railway Ticket Checking Staff Organisation and trade unions such as INTUC, HMS and AITUC were present at the convention.