Senior Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said he would once again raise in Parliament the long-pending demand to absorb ‘coolies’ (porters) into the Railways. He said around 22,000 porters had been seeking regularisation since the tenure of former Railway Minister Lalu Yadav, but successive governments had failed to address their demands. While the government has framed welfare rules for porters, he said their poor implementation has left many struggling to support their families despite working hard throughout the day.
Addressing a press conference at the AAP headquarters on Wednesday alongside National Porter Front President Suresh Yadav, senior AAP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, “Jantar Mantar has become the centre of the youth movement today.” He said that all political parties, social organisations, and farmers’ organisations should visit the site and extend their support to the protesting youth.
Sanjay Singh added, “Porters, who carry the burden of other people’s luggage on their shoulders, have travelled from Lucknow to Delhi to support the youth movement because they too have children who may have appeared for the NEET examination.”
Speaking in detail about the problems faced by porters, Sanjay Singh said, “There are around 22,000 porters across the country. The demand to regularise them and provide employment to their family members has been pending since Lalu Yadav served as Railway Minister. Some recruitments took place at that time, but many porters were left out.” Today, he said, the rules framed for the welfare of porters are not being implemented on the ground.
The AAP Rajya Sabha MP further said, “After waiting throughout the day and working extremely hard, a porter barely earns ₹100 to ₹200, and on some days has to return home without earning anything at all. How are they expected to sustain their lives under such circumstances?”
Sanjay Singh said that he had raised the issue of porters several times in Parliament, and added, “Today, National Porter Front President Suresh Yadav has come to Delhi along with his representatives, and during the current Parliament session, we will strongly raise their demands and this entire issue inside Parliament.”
Speaking at the press conference, National Porter Front President Suresh Yadav said, “The privatisation being introduced at railway stations is gradually eliminating the work of porters. Just as a policy was introduced in 2008 under which porters were declared permanent employees, the government should once again bring a similar policy. The situation today is even more serious than before, and porters across the country should be absorbed into government jobs within the Railways.”
Suresh Yadav said that handing over the work traditionally done by porters to private entities was creating tension between porters and private companies. “The Railways already has a workforce of recruited porters. Outsourcing this work to private players has created chaos within the Railways and is also affecting security arrangements. The government should stop privatisation, take this work back under its own control, and entrust it to the porters themselves,” he pointed out.
Explaining why the amount of work available to porters has declined, Suresh Yadav stated, “Private battery-operated vehicles are now being run at railway stations, Jan Seva Kendras have been opened, a new trolley system has been introduced, a porter booking app has been launched, escalators have been installed at many locations, and luggage now comes fitted with wheels. As a result, the need for porters has reduced significantly.” He said that, for this reason, the issue of securing the employment of porters has now become extremely important.
Suresh Yadav further asserted, “Just as in 2008, the government should once again introduce a policy to absorb porters into the Railways.” He noted that the number of porters has already declined considerably. He urged the government to end privatisation in the Railways and said that porters are fully prepared to perform whatever work the Railways assigns to them.
