NEW DELHI: Senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh has pledged to raise the issue of thousands of railway porters (coolies) facing unemployment due to the privatisation of the railways, calling the government’s inaction a grave injustice.
Addressing a press conference alongside members of the porter community at the AAP headquarters on Tuesday, the legislator said that the Centre has repeatedly ignored their appeals. “Porters have been part of our railway system for generations. Yet today, they are being pushed into poverty as the government hands over their jobs to private contractors,” he said.
Singh highlighted the earlier policy under former Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav, which offered formal railway jobs to porters’ families, a scheme that benefitted more than 22,000 workers.
“But nearly 20,000 unemployed porters are still waiting for justice,” he added. The AAP MP criticised the government for dismantling welfare schemes and apps like CoolieMaa, which once offered a small income stream. He warned that if no action is taken to restore their jobs, porters might be forced to protest. Singh went on to say that if called for, he will also join the porters in their protest against this injustice.
Also present was Ram Suresh Yadav, national convenor of the Rashtriya Coolie Morcha, who demanded implementation of the 2008 policy and accused the railways of making false claims about providing facilities like healthcare and rest houses. “Privatisation has stripped porters of work and dignity,” he said.