‘Railway staff not safe’

Veteran union leader M Raghavaiah, general secretary of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR), on Friday said, “Nearly 9,000 railway employees die every year due to stress and overwork.”

Raghavaiah was in Mumbai to address meetings of railway employees at the Matunga workshop and outside Divisional Railway Manager’s office to canvass for Central Railway Mazdoor Sangh for the upcoming elections between November 26 and 28.

“The employees most at risk are safety and operational staff such as gatemen, gangmen, technicians and signalmen. Safety precautions are either not taken or are not there at all,” alleged Raghavaiah.

Another reason cited for the deaths of railway workers is the dire shortage of safety staff in the railways.

“There is a shortage of 1.8 lakh employees in the railways for the past three years. Of these, more than 80,000 posts are vacant in the safety and operational categories,” said Raghavaiah.