Loco Pilots, Assistant Loco Pilots Demand Fixation of Duty Hours

Loco pilots say that fixed duty timings and time intervals provision is available for several organisations, even private sector, too, but loco pilots are deprived of this facility for decades.

New Delhi: Loco pilots and assistant loco pilots of trains have been demanding the fixation of duty hours and definite time intervals for taking food and attending to nature's call while discharging their duties, a loco pilot said on Friday.

Explaining the rules for duty hours, MP Deo, Joint Secretary General, All India Loco Running Staff Association, told ETV Bharat, “We have been raising duty hours issue for a long time, but no solution is yet to be reached. The association wrote letters to railways regarding duty hours, but they don’t fix working hours of loco running staff. Drivers have to work extra hours, which is not good for their health.”

“We have also been demanding the implementation of the International Labour Organisation-Convention ratified by India to provide fixed duty hours for loco running staff,” Deo added. Talking about defined time intervals for taking food and nature’s call, Kamlesh Singh, central treasurer, of the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO), told ETV Bharat, “We have been demanding the implementation of International Labour Organisation-Convention ratified by India to provide defined time for interval for the last several years. At present, there is no provision for taking food refreshment and attend nature’s call.”

“Fix duty timings and time intervals provision is available for several other organisations, even private sector, too, but we are deprived of this facility for decades,” Singh added. Responding to the demands, the Ministry of Labour and Employment has set up a High Power Committee in April to work out a solution to provide a defined time interval for having food and to attend nature’s call. However, fixing duty hours is yet to remain an unattended issue.

As per the office memorandum issued by the Chief Labour Commissioner’s office, a High Power Committee has been constituted comprising 13 members to discuss and decide modalities to implement Article-8 of ILO-Convention C-001, record views and comments of all stakeholders of railway administration and the Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO).

Describing the condition of Loco Pilots, PK Sharma, Loco Inspector, told ETV Bharat, “We have to drive trains continuously for long hours. Drivers don’t even get proper time to attend nature’s call.”

The female loco pilots and assistant loco pilots’ condition is more grim as they don't get basic facilities like toilets in the trains. “Continuous long duty hours are harmful for a female's body but we have to do it. If there are fixed duty hours then it will be better for us,” Pallavi, assistant loco pilot, told ETV Bharat.

Several other women train drivers expressed the same plight as they have to undergo long duty hours even if they don’t get pick and drop facility from home to station and vice-versa during the night shift. A female driver on condition of anonymity said that due to long working hours, she is not able to take care of her kids at home.

“We have been raising this issue since 2009-10 at various levels. Now, a high power committee has been constituted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment to find a solution to provide a defined time interval to have food and respond to nature's call. It will get a proper solution on this issue,” Sanjay Pandhi, working president of the Indian Railway Loco Running Men's Organisation and one of the members of the committee, told ETV Bharat.