Suspension of train service renders porters without work

Daily wagers demand restoration of train service between Rawalpindi and Sukkur

RAWALPINDI:

Hundreds of porters working at the Rawalpindi railway station have been rendered jobless and without work owing due to the suspension of the passenger train service between different cities caused by devastating floods

The railway service between different cities has been suspended since August 26 and as a result, several porters return home empty-handed in the evening from. The federal and governments have announced no relief package to ameliorate the sufferings of these daily wagers. Around 30 to 50 porters work at small stations and roughly 200 at major stations; however, owing to the suspension of the train service, all of them have been struggling to make ends meet.

Families of these daily-wage reporters are in dire financial straits owing to the non-earning of their sole breadwinners. Around 190 porters work at the Rawalpindi railway station but the closure of train service between Rawalpindi and Peshawar, Karachi, Hyderabad, Lahore and Quetta has rendered them jobless.

Porters said that passengers travelling from Rawalpindi to Hyderabad, Karachi and Quetta and other long routes carry heavy luggage and resultantly, they earn a handsome amount by providing them service. All 35 passenger trains have been shut down after floods caused damage to railway tracks in southern Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan.

They said that passengers travelling to Lahore or Peshawar from Rawalpindi railway station carry only one bag which they themselves carry on their shoulders without seeking the services of porters.

The outsourcing of trains has also caused complications for porters as private contractors register, supervise and set labour rates for porters for carrying luggage. Each porter has to pay 60 per cent of his daily labour to his boss and 40 per cent to the contractor.

Porters Faisal Razak, Azmat Tabreez and Amjad Ali said: "The contractor system has also created a division among porters as according to them, one group was close to them at the cost of others.

They said that the Green Line train between Islamabad and Karachi has a large number of passengers and luggage but only favourite porters and workers were allowed to work during the departure and arrival of the train.

Carrier Mahmood Ali and Shamoon demanded that each individual should be provided with a cart. They said that the railway track from Peshawar to Sukkur has been cleared and the train service from Rawalpindi, Peshawar and Lahore to Sukkur should be restored at the earliest to save porters from starvation and financial bankruptcy.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2022.