BENGALURU: A majority of the 1240 Station Masters (SM) across the South Western Railway (SWR) Zone are set to participate in a one-day protest in the form of mass leave on May 31 in support of numerous demands including filling up of the nearly 20% vacancies in the SM cadre in the Zone, said a registered trade union under the Indian Railways.
This is part of an all-India protest called by the All India Station Masters Association (AISMA).
Train operations are bound to get impacted as Loco Pilots cannot steer trains across any station until clearance for the same is given by the SM on duty at the station.
A press meet to announce the protest was held at the Press Club on Wednesday by the General Manager, All India Station Masters Association (AISMA), SWR, B M Jayanna and president of the Bengaluru Division of AISMA, C Nedumaran.
According to Jayanna, "The health of SMs was impacted due to nearly 20% of vacancies not filled up. Out of 1503 posts, only 1240 have been appointed. It is tough to get a weekly off for SMs as well as getting leave is very difficult. Instead of working for three shifts, we work two shifts putting in 12 hours of work in a majority of stations. This causes stress for all of us and affects our health."
The other demand being cited was the need to put in place a structured career progression path.
"At present, there is only one promotion available for a Station Master, that of Station Manager. Posts like Chief Station Manager and Gazetted Station Manager/Station Director need to be introduced so that an SM can have three promotions during the service," he said.
Nedumaran called for the provision of safety or stress allowance similar to that being paid for loco-pilots, guards, trackmen and Section Controller. A plea to reinstate the night duty allowance for those who work during nights was also made. "This was present since 1960 and was removed two years ago," he said. An official release said the allowance was not given anymore for those drawing Rs 43,600 as basic pay.
"AISMA had placed the demands to the management and exhausted all peaceful methods to arrive at a solution. Series of protests at Divisional, Zonal and National level with Railway Board officers and Railway Minister and all efforts went in vain," the release added.