New Delhi, Aug 26 (PTI) The All India Guards Council has announced protests in front of various railway offices and establishments to oppose the Railway Board’s decision to replace iron trunks with trolley bags.
Guards and loco pilots keep iron trunks (also called line boxes) weighing over 20 kg in the engine or guard cabin containing railway norms, various equipment, and their personal belongings.
While the Railway Board wants to replace it with a trolley bag, the Guards’ union has opposed it due to safety concerns.
“Following the decision of the Central Working Committee, it has been decided to hold a massive Dharna on Wednesday, September 11, 2024, in front of lobbies, office of the DRMs and Offices of the General Managers demanding the Administration to continue the system of Line Boxes,” D Biswas, General Secretary, All India Guards Council, said.
According to Biswas, the Delhi High Court directed the Ministry of Railways to reply to all earlier representations of the Council on the issue and not to withdraw the line boxes until all the representations are disposed of.
“But unfortunately, the various Divisions/Zones are going to eliminate the line boxes which will be deemed as “Contempt of Court”,” he said.
According to railway officials, the Board initiated this move in 2006 with comprehensive instruction and a year later, it issued another guideline after discussions with trade unions for its implementation on a trial basis.
However, it remained pending for 11 years due to stiff opposition from loco pilots and guards.
In 2018, the Board once again decided to push the scheme into two zones – Northern Railways and South Central Railways – for trial and after positive feedback from the various trials, it issued a final order on February 21, 2022, for implementation.
The All India Guards Council and other stakeholders challenged this order at various legal fora, including the Central Administrative Tribunal’s (CAT) Principal Bench at New Delhi, forcing the railways to put it on hold.
The CAT, on February 8, 2024, refused to grant any relief to the guards’ body and said it would not interfere with the Railway Ministry’s order paving the way for the Board to implement its decision.
Following the CAT’s order, the Board on July 19, issued letters to all the zones asking them to start providing trolley bags to loco pilots and guards. Meanwhile, the Guards’ Council challenged the CAT’s order in the Delhi High Court.
The Delhi High Court in its order dated August 13, asked the Railways to decide the guard’s body “representations within four weeks from the receipt of this order without getting influenced by the order dated 08.02.2024 passed by the learned Central Administrative Tribunal.” Now, the Guards’ Council has alleged that the Railway Ministry is replacing iron trunks with trolley bags without deciding their representations.
According to a railway official, whenever a loco pilot (train driver) or a guard (officially called train manager) signs on for train duty, he keeps an iron trunk weighing over 20 kg in the engine or guard cabin as it carries railway norms, various equipment as well as his personal belongings.
“To carry the heavy iron trunk, they are provided with a porter who takes the box to their respective cabins,” the official added.
Railway Board emphasised before the CAT several benefits of doing away with the services of porters. For instance, it said that besides monetary savings due to the termination of box boy contracts, it would also save the detention time of trains on account of loading and unloading heavy boxes to and from the engine or guard’s coach.
On the other hand, the guards’ union argued that the order was arbitrary and that the Railways were imposing duties of box porters or box boys on train managers.
The other concern of the guards union was that they had to carry detonators composed of potassium chlorate, sulphur, sand, binder and neutralizer issued by the Ordnance Factory Board to Indian Railways for specific purposes during train operations.
They argued that often they have to leave their cabin and come out of it during train operations at many isolated locations.
“In such a situation, these detonators are safe in the iron trunk which is locked and difficult to carry. However, it is easy to take away the carry bags with detonators from the Guard’s cabin,” said SP Singh, former general secretary of All India Guards Council.
“We are ready to accept the in-built box in the brake van (guard’s cabin) if the Railways comes out with any such proposal,” Singh told PTI. PTI JP HIG
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