Ludhiana coolies don red, as railways accepts their long pending demands

  • | Friday | 15th March, 2019

Ludhiana: A wave of joy ran through the community of licensed coolies at Ludhiana railway station, as the Northern Railway Board has sanctioned their long pending demand of giving them three red shirts and a woollen shirt each every year. Railways should bring the insurance policies of coolies so that the future of their families can be secured up to some limit”. “Coolie community is an important part of the railway transport but since Independence railways has hardly done anything to give them better facilities. The railways have also decided to construct a waiting room for them, in which facilities like television, water purifiers, and bunk beds are provided for coolies to rest during their working hours. Besides, there will be a special path for trolley movements on different platforms, so that coolies do not face any difficulty in managing the luggage of passengers.

Ludhiana: A wave of joy ran through the community of licensed coolies at Ludhiana railway station, as the Northern Railway Board has sanctioned their long pending demand of giving them three red shirts and a woollen shirt each every year. The railways have also decided to construct a waiting room for them, in which facilities like television, water purifiers, and bunk beds are provided for coolies to rest during their working hours. Besides, there will be a special path for trolley movements on different platforms, so that coolies do not face any difficulty in managing the luggage of passengers. There are around 50 licensed coolies, including two women at the railway station.A railway official said: “A concrete development plan for the betterment of coolies — who are forced to live in poor conditions — has been worked out. The railways have started considering the demand of coolies and are making efforts to improve their basic standards of living.”Local commercial department officials confirmed receiving a letter from the railway authorities, accepting the demands of coolies and sanctioning the items they have asked for. Soon, division level officials will send a team to verify the working of coolies and give them all the sanctioned items.Ludhiana railway station director Abhinav Singla said: “We will contact the coolies and ask them their details, so that an estimate can be sent to the higher authorities for securing all the sanctioned items. Moreover, the engineer’s section will soon commence the work of laying special paths for trolleys in the premises of the city railway station.”Lajwanti Devi one of the two women coolies at the railway station said: “Coolies are in dire need of all such facilities, because for the past several years, the railways have done nothing for their betterment, which is very annoying. We have appealed to the railways to bring coolies into the pension scheme, along with providing us insurance benefits, so that the future of coolies becomes better than their present.”Deepak Kumar, porter added that the railway should quickly develop other facilities like providing new trolleys, shoes, railway quarters to coolies. “Coolie community is an important part of the railway transport but since Independence railways has hardly done anything to give them better facilities. Railways should bring the insurance policies of coolies so that the future of their families can be secured up to some limit”.

If You Like This Story, Support NYOOOZ

NYOOOZ SUPPORTER

NYOOOZ FRIEND

Your support to NYOOOZ will help us to continue create and publish news for and from smaller cities, which also need equal voice as much as citizens living in bigger cities have through mainstream media organizations.


Stay updated with all the Latest Ludhiana headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.

Related Articles

More trouble in store for MC building branch
  • Wednesday | 11th December, 2019
Tributes paid to Hyderabad rape victim
  • Tuesday | 10th December, 2019