Title - Railway sanitation workers go on strike against salary cut

Cleaning and sanitation work at the Pune railway station was severely hit on Tuesday following an indefinite strike called by contractual sanitation workers protesting against the 'heavy deductions in their wages by the contractor to whom the Railways has outsourced the work. All 72 workers participated in the strike.The contractor, however, said he was forced to make the deductions as the Railway administration had been imposing heavy fines on him for the past three months citing unsatisfactory work. The workers are responsible for maintaining cleanliness on all the platforms (other than Platform No 1), railway tracks and surrounding areas.“We get around Rs 5,800 after provident fund and other deductions every month. But the contractor is deducting additional Rs 800-1,000 for the past three months. This month he deducted Rs 2,000 over the legitimate deductions. He said he was helpless as the Railway officials were imposing penalty on him ,” said one of the workers, Arujun Ovhal.Contractor Sanjay Gaikwad said the officials cited litter and dirt in the drainage under the railway tracks as a reason for the penalty. “The tracks are very old and are right above the drainage line which makes cleaning difficult. They recently carried out some work which led to choking of drain outlet due to accumulation of gravel. There was also severe water scarcity a few months ago. The officials do not consider these problems and impose heavy penalty on me,” he said. Gaikwad alleged that the administration had imposed a fine of at least Rs 11 lakh in a span of one year.“In the past three months, they have fined me Rs 1.59 lakh, Rs 2.87 lakh and Rs 92,000, respectively, forcing me to cut workers’ salaries,” he said.However, the Railways alleged the contractor was being fined for employing less number of workers, which was against the contract. “He often employs inadequate workers which leads to unsatisfactory work. The fine has been imposed on him for flouting the terms and conditions of the contract,” said Railways spokesperson Y K Singh.