New Delhi: Expressing concern over their safety while discharging duties on tracks, employees of the Railways Signalling and Telecommunication Department demanded the provision of walkie-talkie sets for better communication among on-duty staff, citing safety risks. The call for better communication systems comes after a Signalling and Telecommunication Department worker was killed when a goods train hit him on Thursday at the North Central Railway zone.
Alok Chandra Prakash, General Secretary of the Indian Railways Signalling and Telecommunication Department Maintainers’ Union, expressed his concerns while speaking to ETV Bharat and said, “Staff working on the tracks to rectify signal glitches are always putting their lives at risk as they are not provided with proper equipment to establish communication among on-duty staff, alerting each other about train movements.”
On Thursday, a railway signal technician was killed after being hit by a freight train in Jhansi. The deceased was reportedly working on the track with colleagues when a train approached. Although his colleagues tried to alert him, the technician was struck before he could respond, according to the IRSTMU Union.
Prakash added, “Due to the lack of communication equipment, over two dozen such incidents occur every year. Yet, no concrete solution has been provided for our safety. We have raised this issue with the Railway Board, but they claim that there is no circular or order to supply walkie-talkies to S&T staff. However, zonal officials often inform us that S&T workers will not be issued these devices.”