TIRUCHY: Lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on everyone’s livelihood. After
the government eased restriction, several business returned to normalcy. But in the case of railway porters returning to normalcy is a far-fetched dream.
When the railways announced to resume Special trains services in Tamil Nadu, several porters working in Tiruchy railway station thought, rather hoped, that it would help them put their life ‘back on track’.
But the resumption of train services has not changed their plight as most of the passengers are not seeking
their services. Irrespective of the reason, the porters are forced to work as a daily wage labourer in the city.
At present, there are about 20 porters.
Out of this, only four porters are visiting the station as the running of a fewvspecial trains within the state have not provided enough work. Talking about the ordeal, Thangavel, a porter working for 30 years in the station said, “For the past one month, only a few passengers are coming with a lot of bags. Working for
an entire day fetches only a maximum of Rs 200. Therefore, most of the porters are working as a daily wage labourers.”
“We don’t know how long it the situation would continue. Since there is not enough work, only four of us are visiting the station. The rest go for manual work. We hope that the railway would consider our plight and extend some financial assistance for us,” said another porter Chandrashekar.
Some others opined that passengers avoided their service fearing the coronavirus spread.