SAMBALPUR: The coronavirus lockdown has brought untold misery upon porters at railway stations who have been put out of work after suspension of train services. There are at least 52 licensed porters working in Khetrajpur main railway station here. These porters are like daily wagers who manage their expenses with their everyday earnings. However, since the last 10 days, they are living in miserable condition without money and food after railway services were suspended from March 22. On average, a porter earned around Rs 1,000 every day.
A porter, Akash Suna, said, “We sustain families and meet our basic needs with the daily earnings. Some of us have kids and aged parents to look after. Apart from food and medicines, there are other necessities like house rent which we are unable to arrange now. Without any money, we are staring at an uncertain future.”
The porters recently had approached the railway authorities with their problems. A senior official said, “Though the Railways doesn’t have any special provisions for porters, we assured to provide cooked food to them and their families until the lockdown is lifted. After they agreed to our proposal, we started the exercise. However, the next day, the porters told us that they do not want cooked food. It is not possible on our part to provide financial assistance to them.”
The porters said they are upset with the State Government not Railways. “We are hearing about many welfare schemes launched by the Government for the crisis. But, we have been left out of the benefits. It is unfortunate that the Government is willing to spend lakhs of rupees on stray animals but not for daily wagers like us,” rued a porter.
In view of the situation, the porters said the Government should provide a special package or arrange an alternative employment opportunity for them to meet their daily expenses during these difficult times.