Dhanbad division violating safety rules for track maintainers: Union to Railway Board

New Delhi, Sep 23 (PTI) The All India Railway Track Maintainers Union (AIRTU) has written to the Railway Board, alleging that safety norms are being violated in the Dhanbad division with the deployment of medically-unfit workers to work under harsh conditions.

Citing the case of a trackman, Praveen Kumar, the union said he is currently working in the Kodarma section of the division, where railway doctors have declared him medically unfit for stressful duties. However, senior officials are endangering Kumar's life by forcing him to do physically-demanding work.

"Permanent Way Inspectors (PWIs) are disregarding all railway norms. Despite the union's request to place the said trackman in a unit where he would be given lighter work, Kumar is being deliberately put to harsh work and his health condition is deteriorating," AIRTU president Chand Mohammed said.

Sharing a copy of the complaint that he has e-mailed to the Railway Board, Mohammed said, "I raised the issue with the DRM of the Dhanbad division and the general manager of the East Central Railway zone, but no one paid any heed to my complaint. Thus, I raised the issue with the Railway Board." In his letter to the board, Mohammed has alleged that trackmen reporting managers like Prabhat Kumar, a PWI in the Kodarma section, are not following work ethics, which is not only detrimental to the health of the trackmen but also to railway safety.

When asked for a comment, Divisional Railway Manager Awdhesh Mishra did not respond.

Mohammed said track maintainers are engaged in critical safety work as they ensure good track condition for safe train operations.

He shared a letter written by a senior officer of the Kodarma section to the chief medical officer of Dhanbad, urging him to give the fitness certificate of an ailing trackman so that he could be deployed for hard work.

"I urge the Railway Board to issue necessary directions to the division," Mohammed said. PTI JP RC