Title - ‘Carrying’ on without ado ---- Porters at railway stations

‘Carrying’ on without ado
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Porters at railway stations take the load off the body and mind of passengers with their specialised services for measly sums. Despite their poor living conditions, as a community, they are extremely helpful to one another

The life of a typical railway porter is not all that easy. They carry others’ loads for a pittance and have to work every single day for livelihood, rain or shine. By and large, they are honest and helpful by nature.

A railway porter is a worker contracted by the Indian Railways to offer his services to train passengers in handling their luggage, especially at railway stations. A porter's licence is granted on the behalf of no less a person than the President of India. Once selected, a porter is required to pay a nominal fee to the Indian Railways.

The licensed railway porter is not an employee of the Indian Railways. So, the Railways are obliged to provide monetary or other benefits to licensed porters. Still, the porters can avail of certain facilities as a goodwill gesture.

There are approximately 600 licensed porters in the twin cities under SCR, covering Secunderabad, Nampally, Begumpet and Kacheguda. In Secunderabad station alone there are 250 licensed coolies. They work on shifts so as to be available to passengers 24x7 on all 365 days.

Porters follow a fairly systematic procedure while offering their services. For departing passengers, licensed porters use the queue system and get to the passengers by turn. The case of serving passengers arriving from other stations is somewhat peculiar.

Whenever an outstation train is about to arrive at a particular platform, the porters start to assemble there some minutes before its arrival. Along the platform there are demarcations that divide the platform length into a number of parts, called ‘hadh’ (limit ), each extending to about 50 metres, or equal to the length of a train compartment.

each hadh, only about four or five porters assemble initially. There is good understanding amongst the coolies that they should approach the passengers and get customers in the order in which they appeared in the hadh. They do not try to undercut each other, at least in the beginning. Each coolie hardly earns per day between Rs 200 and Rs 300, presuming they get 3 to 4 chances per day by turn as determined by their group leader called Mokadaham.

According to the railway policy, a licensed porter's badge and its number play a very important role in the porter’s career. The badge may be transferred to his son, or, if he has no son, to his near relatives in the event of his death or when he becomes too old or infirm to carry on with his duties properly.

The list of ‘near relatives’ specified includes the porter's brother, his brother's son, and even his brother-in-law. The badge with a number is a visa to work as a licensed porter as long as he is fit enough and able to do his duties.

Dhanalaxmi, a senior citizen from East Marredpally, Secunderabad, a frequent traveler to Vishakapatnam, said: “ I have been seeing this porters’ community with red dress & turban for the past 60 years. They are very hard working, honest and sincere. They help out in transport of luggage from outside the station to right into the respective compartment in a safe and secure manner. Added to this, they are good informers about the details of the arrivals and departures of the various trains with platform numbers.

This is a great relief and satisfaction to the entire railway passenger community. Passengers prefer to enquire about trains & platform numbers from porters. Really it is a great service. M Umanagendramani, general secretary of the SCR Licensed Porters Sangh, says:" They are honest, sincere and hard working.

They take care of need-based services of the railway travelling community and in turn get a small remuneration as fixed by the railway authorities. They need sympathy and compassion from the travelling public and support from the railway authorities for better returns and improved living conditions.”

S Mallaiah,a senior porter at Secunderabad station (badge no 379) said: " I have been working as a porter for the past 25 years. I inherited the badge from my father who died while in service as a young porter. Moving up and down the platform bridges with weight on our heads is certainly not an easy task for us. I am experiencing foot and ankle pains due to carrying heavy loads on my head and shoulders. In addition, we are exposed to accidental life risks.”

K Dasharath, a senior porter (badge no 94), said: “We have very good unity. Whenever a fellow porter falls sick or is unable to come due to a health problem, all porters in the shift will collect Rs 2 per day & give it to their family for medical or other emergency needs.

In case of demise of a porter’s mother or father or any family member, we voluntarily collect Rs 1500 to Rs 2000 and give it to the bereaved family. We have to work daily without rest and with lots of risks for earning Rs 200 to Rs 300 per day. If we are unable to attend duty due to sickness or any social functions like marriage or festivals, we are at a loss on those days.

To safeguard the railway property and its assets and to prevent terror attacks on trains, porters have been given the additional responsibility of keeping an eye for any unusual and unclaimed objects. The porters’ services are also being used in emergency rescue operations during rail accidents and any untoward mishaps.