The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : The job of porterage

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Tuesday, Jul 15, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

The job of porterage

Aloysius Xavier Lopez

For baggage carriers at Central railway station, even Rs. 50 may be hard to come by on certain days

Photo: V. Ganesan

all in a day’s work A porter carrying luggage on his head at the Central railway station.

Shaktivel limps as he pushes a baggage-laden trolley at Central railway station. The 29-year-old porter has a big responsibility: he has to look after two younger brothers and a sister. The tattoo on his hand reads ‘Anjalai 08.03.1999.’ And there’s a sad story behind it.

The tattoo marks his mother Anjalai’s death of a heart ailment on March 8, 1999. Shakthivel’s father, also a porter, could not find enough money to have his wife treated; unable to cope with her death, he committed suicide one month later. Shathivel was plunged into a man’s world as a young 20-year-old, taking up work as a porter to make ends meet.

Shakthivel makes about Rs. 200 a day. But there are also days when even making Rs. 50 is a tough task, says S.S. Rajabather, General Secretary of the CITU porters union. Add to this the galloping inflation, and you have porters often skipping meals because they can’t afford to eat.

“The biggest problem is our health,” says K. Murugasan (48), a porter at Central. The inadequate nutrition, combined with the physical nature of their work, poverty, lack of awareness about disease prevention and an unhygienic environment, take a heavy toll on their health.

Mr. Rajabather denies a widespread perception that porters are rude and demand exorbitant charges. “The railway has permitted 607 licensed porters at Central station. Some porters do behave badly. But the union takes action against porters guilty of rude behaviour towards passengers. They are suspended for a week which means a loss of Rs.1000. The railway rules specify a minimum charge of Rs. 30 for a head load of 40 kg and Rs. 60 for a trolley load of 120kg from the passengers. But porters depend on the goodwill of passengers,” says Mr. Rajabather.

Today’s strolleys and easy-to-pull suitcases and polished flooring have ironically led to declining patronage. The railway recently launched a scheme to provide licensed porters with a permanent gangman’s job. But porters above 50 are not eligible. Some 245 porters were recruited months ago and 83 last week.

Murugesan, who got an appointment as gangman, says, “I feel a sense of extreme fulfilment after I got a permanent railway job. All these years as porter, I was living with an inexplicable.” But porters who are physically unfit like Shakthivel, and those over 50 like Rajabather, have little to look forward to.

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