Station masters hold protest outside Pune DRM office

Pune: Many railway station masters staged a protest outside the Pune divisional railway manger (DRM) office near the Pune railway station on Thursday to press for their demands being heard and addressed.

The protestors’ demand include opposition to privatisation of Railways, implementing old pension scheme, insurance cover up to ₹50 lakh for those employees who worked during the Covid lockdown.

The one-day protest is part of the national stir organised by All India Station Masters’ Association (AISMA). It is the sixth phase of the protest. On October 7, through email, the association had sent their demands and opposed the railway board’s decisions. The association staged a “night protest” by lighting lamps at workplace on October 15. From October 20 to 26, station masters tied black ribbon on shoulder in protest.

“We sat on one-day hunger strike on October 31 and later agitated outside the DRM offices across the country. Today, again, we did a hunger strike protest for our demands and it is seen that despite repeated protests, the railway administration is not considering our demands. Now we plan to go on an indefinite strike soon. Then it will be the responsibility of railways if the railways’ work is disrupted,” said association national president Dhananjay Chandratre.