Trackman mowed down in Maldah division; Union reiterates demand for more workforce, Rakshak devices

New Delhi: A track maintainer was mowed down in the Maldah division when he moved to save himself from an oncoming train without realising another train was hurtling down the adjacent track as well, officials said Wednesday.

Division officials said trackman Bariul Rahman had been employed with the railways since 2012 and he was not authorised for track inspection work. However, he was sent in place of the authorised worker who was on leave.

In the wake of the incident, the All India Railway Track Maintainers Union (AIRTU) reiterated its demand for more workforce and the distribution of Rakshak devices to all trackmen to get an alert about approaching trains.

"This is the third incident of the death of a track maintainer in five days. A track maintainer was run over in Kanpur on Saturday and a female track worker died due to suffocation as her scarf got stuck in the machine," AIRTU National Working President Chand Mohammed said.

"The trackman who was mowed down yesterday in Maldah division was sent to work as a keyman because the person who was on the shift went on leave. He was not a keyman who is a skilled workforce to inspect and maintain tracks. There is a shortage of workforce on line because most of the trackmen and keymen have been employed by senior railway officials in their houses for personal work," he said.

The Union office-bearers have reiterated their demand for the implementation of Rakshak device among the track workers which, according to them, is extremely useful in alerting them about train movements.

Rakshak is a GPS-based device with safety warning system for railway employees working along the track. A track worker, who carries this device, gets an alert sound before the arrival of a train.

"The Ministry of Railways launched this device as a pilot project in a couple of divisions such as Securderabad in South Central Railway and it turned out to be very useful in saving the lives of track maintainers. However, the project was shelved for reasons best known to the railway officials itself," said Satish Yadav, the general secretary of AIRTU, Western Railway.

AIRTU All India national general secretary Kantharaju AV also strongly demanded the implementation of the Rakshak device in all divisions as soon as possible.

"The Railway Ministry calls us the backbone of the Indian Railway but it doesn't care for us. Work pressure has become the biggest killer for track maintainers. They are either committing suicides or being run over by trains due to too much mental pressure making them oblivious of their personal safety at work," Kantharaju said.