Karnataka - Mysore   

Loco running staff put forward their demands

Staff Correspondent

Call to fill vacancies in phased manner

MYSORE: The Mysore branch of the All-India Loco Running Staff Association (AILRSA) staged a dharna in front of the office of the Divisional Railway Manager here on Tuesday in support of their demands.

They demanded that penalties imposed on loco pilots (LPs) and assistant loco pilots (ALPs) of the Mysore division by the senior Divisional Mechanical Engineer, Mysore, be withdrawn immediately as the chargesheet against them were "vague and absurd".

"The officer is blindly imposing penalties on the loco running staff without knowing the facts," the protesters said in a press release.

They demanded the filling up of vacancies of loco running staff in a phased manner. Though the sanction in Mysore division was 465, including loco pilot mail, LP passenger, LP goods and LP shunting, the actual number of staff was 314, they said.

There was a vacancy of 176 loco running staff, the members said, and added that the sanctioned strength had not been revised for several years despite increase in train frequency.

According to the association, the opening of the Hassan-Mangalore section had created a shortage of loco running staff and the vacancies created owing to retirement of loco running staff must be filled. Owing to unfilled vacancies, loco running personnel were denied periodic rest and leave, they added.

Working conditions

The association in the release complained of the unsafe working conditions on the Hassan-Mangalore section.

The section has been opened for the operation of goods train. Not a single day passes without a derailment and the signals have not been commissioned.

The running of goods trains has been allowed without conducting a proper trial by a competent authority," the members said.

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