Satna, Madhya Pradesh: The employees of the Signal and Telecommunication (S&T) Department observed ‘Black Day’ under the Indian Railway Signal and Telecommunication Maintainer’s Union’s (IRSTMU) banner on 9th of February 2022. The employees registered their protest through “Fast” and “Maun Vrat” from 8 in the morning to 5 in the evening. The employees at multiple railway stations, such as Satna, Bansapahar, Majhgawan, Sakariya, Hinautaramban and many others can be seen donning black armbands as a way to demonstrate their protest.
General Secretary IRSTMU, Alok Chandra Prakash said in a press release that the Signal and Telecommunication Department plays an important role in the safe and efficient operation of the railways. The employees perform their duties diligently, without caring about the situation or weather or any such obstacles. They put their lives on the line and work extra hours whenever required, but don’t receive any allowance for the same. The administration has an indifferent approach towards the well-being of the employees of the department.
The seventh pay commission had advocated for providing Risk and Hardship Allowance to Signal and Telecommunication Department employees. But the advice was rejected saying that the Signal and Telecommunication Department employees have already received benefits during the Cadre Restructuring. But the fact is that Cadre Restructuring made thousands of posts vacant, which has led to overburden on the active employees. The situation gets aggravated by the fact that every year at least twenty-four of the employees of the Department lose their life in a run over or while performing their duties, the press release further reads.
The Black Day was observed by the employees of the Signal and Telecommunication Department, at all the railway stations across the country. The employees wore black armbands to mark their protest. The employees are demanding formulation of duty roaster and implementing the 8-hour duty rule, providing risk and hardship allowance, the establishment of night duty failure gang, immediate hiring on the vacant positions in the department and to raise the initial pay of Technicians to the Level 6 (Rs 35,400) and that of Assistants to Level 3 (Rs 21,700).