Arka Rajpandit
THE Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) organised a national convention on ‘Safety in Indian Railways’ on December 20, 2024 at HKS Surjeet Bhawan, New Delhi. More than 200 CITU activists and cadres from 16 states along with several members of railway unions participated in the convention, which was held as per the decision of the CITU general council held in Kolkata in August 2024.
The national convention was presided over by Hemalata, President, CITU. Tapan Sen, General Secretary, CITU explained the crucial importance of holding this convention on safety in Indian Railways. The note for the discussion was placed by Hemalata.
Leaders of different category unions in Indian Railways – K C James, Secretary General, All India Loco Running Staff Association, Manoj Gupta, Deputy Secretary General, All India Station Masters Association, Omprakash Shukla, National Office Bearer, All India Guards Council and R Elangovan, President, Dakshin Railway Pensioners’ Union participated in the convention and addressed the delegates. Kantharaju AV, General Secretary of All India Track Maintainers’ Union, expressed inability to attend and sent a message greeting the convention and appreciating CITU’s initiative.
Leaders of CITU affiliated unions in the Railways – Hari Lal, General Secretary, Dakshin Railway Employees Union (DREU), Rajib Gupta, General Secretary, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works Labour Union (CLWLU), D Ramesh Babu, Convenor, National Coordination Committee of Railway Contract Workers’ Unions (CITU) also addressed the convention. In addition, cadres of fraternal trade unions, AIIEA, BEFI, AISGEF, and BSNLEU also participated.
The convention hailed the victory of two CITU affiliated unions – DREW and CLWLU in the recognition elections with thunderous slogans.
All the national leaders of Railways employees’ organisations endorsed the note, appreciated CITU’s initiative and narrated their experiences. 20 delegates also spoke in support of the note after which it was unanimously adopted along with the tasks proposed.
The Indian Railways has been plagued by a series of tragic accidents in recent times. The focus on safety has been eroded under neoliberal policies, especially since the Modi led BJP came to power, with the Railways shifting its priorities in tune with the pet projects of the political leadership. The number of train accidents increased from 21 in 2020-21 to 34 in 2021-22 and 48 in 2022-23. The Railway Minister informed Parliament in 2022 that 469 passengers lost their lives and 1,275 were injured in train accidents during 2014-19. It is also reported that 451 track maintainers lost their lives in train related accidents between 2017 and 2022. Railway safety is not just a concern of railway employees alone. The common people, especially the millions of workers who rely on trains for their daily commutes also share the concern. It is with this perspective that the Kolkata General Council meeting of CITU resolved to convene a National Convention on Safety in Railways and launch a comprehensive countrywide campaign to raise awareness among passengers, mass of the workers, and railway employees.
Underscoring the importance of this convention, Tapan Sen said, the Modi led Indian government, in its pursuit of economic liberalisation, has increasingly embraced privatisation and contractualisation in various sectors, including Railways. Safety, a paramount concern in any public transportation system, can easily be compromised when monopoly entities are primarily focused on profit maximisation. The pressure to cut costs and maximise the surplus leads to reduced expenditure on maintenance, safety cuts and lack of accountability. On top of that, pervasive contractualisation of the workforce, where core operational tasks and services are outsourced to private players, without up skilling and training of the non-permanent workforce, further exacerbates the perils. The recent spate of the train accidents serves as a stark reminder of the potential dangers of the prioritising of profit over safety in the railways sector. A collective resistance to these anti-people policies can put a break on the massive losses of human lives and assets.
Placing the note on discussion, Hemalata said that despite lack of conclusive evidence regarding the true causes, higher authorities often attribute train accidents to 'human error,' swiftly imposing punitive measures on employees such as loco pilots, track maintainers, station masters, train managers, and signalmen. The extensive adoption of privatisation, outsourcing, and contracting within Indian Railways has severely endangered safety and operational stability. These measures, ostensibly implemented to drive so called ‘development’ and reduce costs, ultimately prioritise corporate profits over the well-being of workers and the safety of passengers.
Hemalata highlighted how neoliberal policies encompass a range of measures, including cuts on public spending for social welfare, the transfer of public assets and infrastructure to private corporations through privatisation, disinvestment, the National Monetisation Pipeline, and other mechanisms. These policies also involve a decline in permanent employment, a rise in precarious work, attacks on workers' rights and conditions, and the weakening of trade unions. In an effort to reduce social welfare spending, the government is abdicating its fundamental responsibility to provide affordable and accessible transportation for the general public. The much touted ‘KAVACH’, which was adopted by the Railway Ministry as the National Automatic Train Protection System in 2020, has been dragging on due to inadequate allocation of funds. Track maintainers who inspect and maintain tracks are prone to being killed by the approaching trains in the absence of a warning system. Inadequate fund allocations are the major reason of risking the railway safety. Therefore, fight for railway safety is intertwined with fight against privatisation.To raise the pressing concerns, CITU has to play a pivotal role along with the railway unions, industrial federations and fraternal federations, she said.
The national leaders of railway employees’ unions supported the note and, drawing from their own experiences, highlighted the policy onslaughts of the Modi government in undermining railway safety. They emphasized the inadequate allocation of funds and criticised the punitive actions taken against railway employees and workers, who are often blamed and victimised to cover up the government’s policy failures. Additionally, they pointed out systemic failures in skilling, training, and upgrading the workforce to align with the introduction of modern technology.
Twenty delegates spoke in support of the note along with the demands and the campaign programme, after which the note was unanimously adopted. The demands included: i) ensure safety of railway passengers, ii) safe working conditions for railway employees, iii) stop privatisation of Indian railways in any form, iv) allocate necessary funds for expansion and safety, v) fill up the all vacant posts in railways, vi) increase passenger trains and sleeper class and general compartments in Express trains and vii) improve amenities in trains.
The campaign programme adopted by the convention is as follows:
- state level conventions with effective preparations to be held between January 15- February 15, 2025
- District/ major station/ railway divisional level convention to be completed by March end
- Massive demonstrations in front of railway stations all over the country on April 10, 2025 with leaflet distribution and starting of a signature campaign on a memorandum to the prime minister
- Signature campaign to continue up to the end of April 2025
The convention called for building a powerful united movement to safeguard the public's right to safe and affordable transportation and oppose privatisation of Indian Railways. It urged all segments of society to join this campaign.
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