• Satyagraha campaign to be launched in November-December
• Support to Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan, porters to attend National Conference on November 10
• National Porter Front (Rashtriya Kuli Morcha) formed at All India meeting of porters in Charbagh, Lucknow
Lucknow, 17 October 2024: Due to modernization and privatization, the work of porters in railways is continuously decreasing and they are facing a tremendous crisis to run their livelihood. The Constitution of India gives the right to live a respectable life to every citizen of the country and it is the responsibility of the government to ensure this. In such a situation, it is the responsibility of the government to give jobs in the railways to save the lives of the families of porters, an integral part of the railways, and it should once again accommodate the porters in the railways like in 2008. This demand was raised strongly in the All India meeting of porters at Charbagh station in Lucknow today. The meeting was chaired by the board of presidents Ram Suresh Yadav, Fateh Mohammad, Jalil Ahmed, Arun Kumar Yadav and was conducted by Kaleem Makrani.
In the meeting, various unions of porters have formed the National Porter Front (Rashtriya Kuli Morcha). The Rozgar Adhikar Abhiyan being run at the national level was supported in the meeting and it was decided to participate in its conference to be held in Delhi on 10 November. Along with this, the heads of all political parties, MPs, dignitaries, workers and people from various public organizations will be met in Delhi to raise the issue of porters in the winter session of the Parliament from 11 November to 14 November. In the meeting, it was also decided to hold a porter dialogue program in Delhi on International Human Rights Day on 10 December.
The speakers in the meeting said that the present government is continuously attacking the job of porters. This government had started battery rickshaws at stations in the name of handicapped, sick and old people, which are now being used to carry even ordinary passengers. Recently, the railways have started the trolley system through an outsourcing company. Not only this, a website has been launched to provide transport from train compartment to home. All this has ruined the lives of porters. The situation is so bad that orders from the railways for health facilities, health cards, children’s education, uniforms etc. have also become a pile of paper.
The speakers said that there is no lack of resources to provide government jobs to porters. If tax is imposed on the property of the super-rich of the country, then so much financial resources will be collected that along with the money spent on the salaries of porters in their jobs, education, health, employment and social security can be provided to every citizen of India. In the meeting, expressing anger over the case filed against the porters in Prayagraj, a demand was also raised to withdraw it immediately.
The main speaker of the meeting was Workers Front President Dinkar Kapoor and the special guests were S.U. Shah and Ranjan Singh of Northern Railway Men’s Union. The meeting was attended by Nandu Yadav from Mumbai, Rajkumar from Dehradun, Golu Thakur from Jhansi, Anil Sanwale from Bhusawal, Amjad from Hubli, Surendra Yadav from Aligarh, Chandrashekhar Mukhiya from New Jalpaiguri, Rambabu Bilala from Bhopal, Ram Mahawar from Sant Haridas Nagar, Akbar Bhai from Manmad, Ashok Awar from Mumbai, Prakash Vodke from Nashik, Kaluram Dohre from Pune, Mool Chand from Gwalior, Rajkumar Yadav from Vardhman, Kanhaiya Gwala from Howrah, Bhagwan Deshmukh from Thane, Lalji Yadav from Kurla, Omprakash Sindhi from Jodhpur, Alimuddin from Kanpur, Imam from Hubli, Venkat from Kazipet, D. Hazarika from Guwahati, Omprakash from Madhupur, Shyam Sundar from Shikohabad, Anil Mandal from Hazaribagh, Sandeep from Dehri-on-Sone, Nageshwar from Vijayawada, Dhaniram from Raigad, Umesh Sharma from Satna, Zeeshan from Jabalpur, Dilsher Khan from Bengaluru, Dhananjay Upadhyay from Lalding Assam, Ramjanm Yadav from Kanpur, Tripti Kumar, Munshi Yadav etc. addressed from Patna and hundreds of porters were present in the conference.
Ram Suresh Yadav
Coordinator, National Porter Front.
