Hyderabad Metro Rail employees go on strike over low salaries

Hyderabad: Hyderabad Metro Rail employees went on a strike on Tuesday morning citing low salaries and various other issues. Demanding a salary hike, ticketing employees along the Red Line (Miyapur to LB Nagar) stretch staged a boycott, causing a brief halt in metro services. Passengers bore the brunt at stations along the Red Line as they waited in long queue wondering why there was a delay. 

The workers claimed that their pay, as low as Rs 11,000 per month, have not been increased since the last five years. "To top it all, we are expected to work like dogs, for several hours each day. There are no enough relievers when one shift ends, forcing others to work another person's shift. We barely have enough time to have our meal," said one of the employees. 

V Prasad, a TCMO said that new people are being recruited with the same base salaries as him and his peers who joined 5 years ago. Another employee demanded that they hope the management considers a hike upto rupees 25000, based on seniority and experience. 

Naveen S, a ticketing employee said that despite being a staff member, they do not have free access/pass to use the Metro services, nor a decent discount. "Even our leaves - sick, emergency and otherwise - are 20 in total, which is not on par industry standards," another employee added. 

The Hyderabad Metro Rail Management maintained that the employees in question have been hired through a contracting agency and have 'connived and abstained from work today' with a purpose to disrupt train operations, causing passenger inconvenience. "They are spreading rumours and misinformation out of vested interest. Their claims are false and their actions are highly against the public interest, which will call for stern action by the HMR management. The management ensures due facilities and benefits are given to staff, however, will be discussing with them to learn more. Train operations are running on time and sufficient manpower is available," HMRL stated. 

Meanwhile, services at the Ameerpet Metro ran almost smoothly, but had one of its 8 entries on the concourse remainder shut. When asked why, authorities dodged the question, while others said it was 'under maintenance'. While on a normal day, each entry has about 4 ticketing officers, Tuesday saw only two of them, leading to slightly long queues, as most other passengers resorting to buying tickets over Paytm and PhonePe.