Mumbai rail roko protest: Job aspirants halt trains; top 10 developments
Hundred or thousands of Mumbai local commuters faced difficulties on Tuesday as scores of agitating students blocked rail traffic, including suburban services between Matunga and Dadar stations, demanding jobs in the Railways, according to a Central Railway official. The agitating students blocked the rail track at 7 in the morning today, forcing the Railways to stop the suburban and express trains in the affected section between Matunga and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). Here are the top 10 developments surrounding the 'rail roko' protest by agitating railway job aspirants: 1) Commuters hit by 'rail roko' protest: Demanding jobs in the Railways, scores of agitated students today blocked rail traffic in Mumbai, including suburban services between Matunga and Dadar stations. The 'rail roko' protest has caused difficulties to hundreds of thousands of commuters, according to a Central Railway official. 2) Students blocked tracks from 7 am today: The agitating students blocked the rail tracks from 7 am in the morning today, forcing the Railways to stop the suburban as well as express train in the affected section between Matunga and CSMT.
3) Four lines between Matunga and CSMT affected: The entire four lines between Matunga and CSMT have been affected, said the Central Railway official. Further, police and Railways officials are conducting talks with them, added the official. 4) 'Over 10 students have committed suicide': A student who was part of the protest told news agencies: "There has been no recruitment since past four years. We are struggling from pillars to post. Over 10 students have committed suicide.We cannot let such things happen." 5) 'Won't budge until Piyush Goyal meets us': Another agitating student told news agencies: "We will not budge from here until and unless Railway Minister Piyush Goyal comes and meets us. Our several prayers made to DRM (Divisional Railway Manager of Mumbai Division) have failed."6) Police, Railways offcials speaking to students: Chief PRO of Central Railways, Sunil Udasi, told news agencies: "Mumbai police along with GRP and RPF jawans are having talks with the students and railway's first priority was to clear the track first." 7) Students want permanent jobs: Close to 500 students who had been working as apprentices in the Railways' various technical workshops are demanding permanent jobs, according to the Indian Express. They have staged the 'rail roko' protest on the Central Railway Line. 8) Special trains being run for the Kurla station: Railways officials have told the national daily that they are running special trains for the Kurla station in the down direction. Further, they said that they are diverting railway traffic from Dadar station in the up direction. "Due to some agitation between Matunga and Dadar, rail traffic affected between Matunga and CSMT," a senior railway official told the national daily, adding, "The Up slow local trains are terminating at Kurla and returning as special in down direction." 9) Railways says apprentices can apply for special examination: The agitating students might be disappointed. According to the national daily, the Central Railways has said that there was no provision for providing jobs to the apprentices under the Apprentice Act. They said that the apprentices are "given only training of a specified period to improve their skills and experience of having worked in the field". 10) Railways gets 15 million job applications for 89,000 vacancies: Around 15 million people have registered for over 89,000 jobs advertised by the Railways last month, officials said last week. The officials said that primary registration of around 15 million candidates have been received by the Railway Recruitment Board online for recruitment to various Group C and Group D posts.
ARTICLE SOURCE- BUSINESS STANDARD.