Will not work as bonded-laborers for senior-officials: Trackman to Goyal
Trackman Dharmendra Kumar, from the Northern Railway's Lucknow division, has said that he and his colleagues will only work for railway construction and will not build houses for their senior officials. The trackman said this in an impassioned appeal to Railway Minister Piyush Goyal alleging that his senior section engineer has employed him and his five other colleagues to build his private house.
Goyal had earlier instructed officials against misuse of power
Soon after taking over in September last year, Goyal had instructed officials to not use their juniors for menial jobs and said strict action will be taken against those who continue to do so. Since the Minister's order, around 10,000 Group-D railway employees, including gang men and trackmen, have been removed from the houses of seniors and put back into safety and maintenance work.
They treat us like bonded laborers: Kumar
Clearly, Kumar and his colleagues aren't among those sent back to their primary jobs. In a letter dated July 13, Kumar wrote to Goyal that his senior section engineer Rajkumar Verma employed him and five other trackmen to build his private house, around 500 meters from the district railway headquarters in Uttar Pradesh's Barabanki. "They treat Grade 4 employees like bonded laborers," Kumar said.
Kumar says his senior threatened to suspend him
"We have joined the railways to do our job, not to serve our seniors. He (Verma) has put these men, who should be looking after the tracks' safety, to do construction work at his home. When I refused, he threatened to suspend me," Kumar said.
Kumar also shot video of trackmen working at construction site
"I have informed senior officials of this and no one has responded so far," Kumar said. Kumar added that he shot a video of railway employees working at the construction site. The video is part of the complaint he sent to the minister. He also alleged that he has been marked "absent" at work since refusing to work for Verma.
