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Central Railway announcers in Mumbai go on strike after one attempts suicide over non-payment of salary
More than 200 contract-based announcers of the Central Railway (CR) went on strike on Thursday at Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar, a day after one of their own attempted
More than 200 contract-based announcers of the Central Railway (CR) went on strike on Thursday at Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar, a day after one of their own attempted suicide.
On Wednesday, Venkatesh Vemuganti, 28, a resident of Ulhasnagar working as an announcer appointed by A and S Outsourcing Solutions, attempted suicide. He also recorded a video of the act and posted it online. Earlier, he had even tweeted to the ministry of labour complaining about non-payment of salary for the last four-five months. He was later hospitalised in Central Hospital.
“ I had no other option than taking the step as my family is solely dependent on me. I tried to meet the authorities several times for the payment but they did not respond. It is not just me who is facing this problem but around 200 like me,” said Venkatesh.
“When others learned about my state, they decided to call off their duty and went on strike. I get paid ₹12,800 monthly. The agency people also threatened me, asking to withdraw my complaints.”
On Thursday, the announcers thronged the Central Hospital in Ulhasnagar and began a strike. They further travelled to CSMT to meet the authorities and raise their complaints. The strike also affected the manpower for the daily announcement at the railway stations.
“We will continue the strike till our demands are met. The railway has now asked the ticket collectors to do the announcements due to our absence,” Venkatesh added.
Chief public relations officer of CR, Shivaji Sutar, said, “ We have done the alternate arrangements at certain stations to avoid inconvenience to the passengers.”
Meanwhile, the CR officials and the contract agency refuted the allegations claiming that the payment was done.
“No payment to the outsourced agency has been withheld by Central Railway. The contractor has been advised to take appropriate action,” said Sutar.
The agency, in a written letter to the CR, mentioned that the said contractor was making false allegations and trying to defame the agency.
Dhumketu Dharamshi, admin manager of the agency, said, “ I personally met Venkatesh and heard his problems. We have already given a cheque of ₹18,967 to him but he refused to accept it. This clearly proves that he has fabricated the story to defame the agency.”
