ISBT Porters’ Union complains that there is only one restroom for 168 registered porters at the recently revamped interstate bus terminus in Kashmere Gate.
Eighty porters can be found working at any given time, but the room can accommodate between 25 and 30 people, the association said.
“The interstate bus terminus has been renovated but we didn’t find any place in the government’s renovation plan. The city government forgot us,” said Laxmi Narayan, porters’ union president. “If we are not there then commuters will have a horrible time.”
Deccan Herald went to the restroom and saw that it does not even have adequate number of lockers for porters. “The room is 15 feet wide and 25 feet long,” said Narayan.
Porters said that some thought should have been paid to their grievances. “We have been demanding better working conditions for long. When the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System took over the Kashmere Gate terminus, we thought things will change. But nothing happened,” said Shyam Lal, general secretary of the union.
“Not only this, due to the revamp of the bus terminus we are losing our daily wages. The entry from the taxi stand has been barred, so we are not able to make money in that area,” Lal added. These 168 porters are registered with the Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation. The department had no idea that the porters are having a tough time at the bus terminus.
“If they are facing problems they should come to us. Now that we know about the issue we will look into it,” said an official of DTIDC. “These porters are the old registered ones. New recruitments are not being done. Why didn’t they come to us earlier?” the official said.
The porters said they have made complaints but they fell on deaf ears. “Time and again, we have told the department about our miserable conditions,” said Lal.
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