Nagpur. The railway administration claims to emphasize on the safety of the passengers and increasing their facilities, but in reality the safety of the passengers is being played with. Talking about the Nagpur division of Central Railway, there is a shortage of more than 2,500 employees here. Sources say that there is also a huge shortage in the safety category ie the staff required for the operation of the railways. In such a condition, any major train accident can happen in the division at any time.
Railway is said to be the life line of the country. The largest population here still prefers to travel in trains. The role of ‘man power’ is important for running the railways, but at present, the railway board is ignoring the ‘man power’ only. There was no direct recruitment in the Railways for the last four years, due to which the problem of ‘man power’ in all the divisions remains serious.
Nearly 2,500 posts vacant
In Nagpur division of Central Railway, about 18,000 posts are sanctioned in different categories. Out of these, around 2500 posts are vacant. That is, there is a shortage of 12 to 15 percent employees in all categories of the division. If sources are to be believed, the posts of 250 Loco Pilots, 250 Guards, 150 Points Man, 300 Track Man, 100 Station Master are vacant. Railway employees say that earlier loco pilots and guards used to do 8-8 hours of duty and they were given 16-16 hours of rest. Today 12-12 hours duty is being taken from the same employees. Most of the employees are suffering from stress due to workload. In such a situation, there is always a danger of a train accident.
Goods train running without guard
Due to the shortage of guards, many goods trains are being run without guards. There are more compartments in a goods train. Their length is about 400 meters. If the vehicle is stopped due to some technical fault on the way, then the guard only gets down and reaches the spot and fixes it or informs the senior officers. Similarly, the role of points man in railways is also very important. They are also called Kantaman in common colloquial language.
It cuts or connects the engine of the train at the station. Their lack has a great impact on the operation of trains. Apart from this, there is also a huge shortage of gang men, who are considered to be the backbone of the railways. Gang men do the maintenance of the track. Due to any disturbance on the track, there is a danger of derailment of the train. Usually train accidents happen due to faults in the track. Be it freezing cold or scorching heat, the gang men keep a constant watch on the track. In this case, due to the slightest mistake, there is a danger of derailment of the train.
what the officials say
On this sensitive issue, Krishnanath Patil, Senior DCM of Central Railway said that at present the figures are not available with me. Something can be said about this only after talking to all the departments.