Chennai Metro rail employees show red flag

CHENNAI: Months after the CMRL's decision to hire contract workers to partly handle operations (between 12 noon-4 pm) at  Nandanam, Teynampet, OTA and Saidapet stations, the complete operation of six more metro stations - Annanagar Tower, Annanagar East, Shenoy Nagar, Pachaiyappa's College, Kilpauk and Nehru Park - have now been handed over to private contract workers.   

Following this move, certain crucial responsibilities including that of station master will now be performed by the contract staff. The contract personnel will also take on the duties of ticketing staff in the counters and parking lots and track management workers among others.

The permanent CMRL workers will now be presiding over the work of the contract staff and have been directed to provide assistance if necessary. This move, however, is facing severe backlash from both the permanent staff and trade union workers who opine that outsourcing contract workers for such jobs which demand strong technical expertise will only put the passengers' lives at stake.

“The work here demands technically skilled personnel.  Two lakh people applied for a job here and only 250 permanent staff were appointed after several screening tests. These staff had to undergo six months of extensive training at Delhi metro followed by emergency response training at Chennai airport. That's the kind of expertise jobs here require. Handing over crucial roles to contract workers who have zero accountability for operations as well the safety of the commuters is insanity”, reasons A Soundara Rajan, state president of Centre of Indian Trade Unions(CITU)

Soundara Rajan suspects that there is larger motive behind this move. “This is a master move to privatise Chennai metro. Contract employees with a pay band of Rs 18,000 -20,000 will now be taking over the roles of the CMRL permanent staff who get paid around 60,000-80,000.  This pay gap speaks for itself and I would be surprised if there is no racket operating behind this,” he adds.

He also points out that the government is flouting their own laws by this move.   

“ Under contract regulation and abolition act(1970) contract workers cannot be employed for a 365-day job”, he says.  

He also alleges that despite having filed a complaint four months back, there has been no proper response from the officials concerned.