Railway track workers flag leadership feud in union, say it threatens advocacy for over 2 lakh workers

An infighting among the office bearers of All India Railway Track maintainers Union to claim top posts has threatened to compromise its primary objective of representing and advocating for the interests of frontline workers, a section of trackmen said.

Amidst the ongoing factional feud, some of the union officer bearers have written to the deputy registrar of trade unions in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, where it has been registered, to verify the genuineness of these claims.

Indian Railways has employed more than two lakh track maintainers who work in different capacities to ensure the good condition of tracks for safe train operations.

All India Railway Trackmaintainers Union (AIRTU), registered at the office of regional labour commissioner in Gandhinagar, represents the track workers' interest and raises issues for their welfare. It is active in 13 railway zones out of 18.

"The union has now divided into three factions and each one is trying to usurp top posts by claiming the support of the majority of members. Instead of one annual general meeting (AGM), three AGMs were held by these three factions at three different places -- Nagpur, Delhi and Bhopal -- and each have staked their claim at the deputy registrar's office in Gandhinagar," a member of one of the factions said.

He added, "It is unfortunate that allegations of document manipulation, corruption and exchange of money have been alleged to get deputy registrar's approval. In a letter to the deputy registrar, one of the factions alleged on July 28 that the other had fabricated the support of members by showing false numbers and manipulating documents."

Track workers said that they need a strong union to press their demand to the railway ministry for better facilities as dozens of trackmen lose their lives while performing their duty every year due to getting run over by speeding trains.

"The ministry promised a Rakshak device, a GPS-enabled machine to workers employed in the maintenance of track to get an alert of approaching trains. However, except one or two divisions, it was not distributed anywhere," a track worker said.

He added, "Track workers are not getting basic facilities on time. Insulated water bottles are distributed to them when the summer season ends and similar is the case with many other facilities. These issues need to be strongly presented to the ministry."