Citu seeks govt intervention as CMRL outsources work

Chennai: CITU has demanded that the State Labour department intercede in the affairs of Metro Rail as safe travel of passengers is at stake as the CMRL management has been hiring contract workers and assigning sensitive work to private contractors.

Citing a recent mishap in Metro Rail at Meenambakkam, State President of CITU, A Soundara Rajan stated that it is shocking to note that the CMRL has been appointing contract workers to operate Metro Rail. The management has been allotting highly sensitive and technical work to contract workers. It is also outsourcing work in several vital installations to private contract agencies.

He said contract workers are being appointed in Traction Department that manages overhead power cables supplying power to Metro Rail. Soundara Rajan said this is a highly technical service where only permanent employees would be capable of performing the duty efficiently.

On June 26, a mishap took place in a transformer which supplies power to metro stations. Video of this incident was circulated in social media. Fortunately no untoward incident took place. On June 25, Metro Rail service was affected as power supply cable snapped at Meenambakkam.

When Metro Rail was introduced in Chennai the management recruited and appointed workers after they passed in written test and rigorous training. Now, the management hires contract workers by floating tenders.

Stating that the CMRL illegally appointing contract workers, Soundara Rajan sought Department of Labour to intercede in the matter and prevent the appointment of contract workers in metro rail to safeguard the passengers.