High-powered committee to implement breaks for food, nature's call for train drivers
train drivers for definite time intervals to have food and respond to the nature's call.
The Ministry of Labour has constituted a high-powered committee to work out the modalities «to provide defined time intervals for food and attending calls of the nature while on duty for the Loco Running Staff of the Indian Railway».
The initiative is in line with the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) Hours of Work (Industry) Convention, 1919, which has been ratified by India.
According to the office-bearers of various unions, the ILO's 1919 convention, for the first time, provided the right to have rest intervals during duty hours to workers and was implemented internationally. However, due to some reasons, the running staff of the Indian Railway remained deprived of it.
The Indian Railway Loco Runningmen Organisation (IRLRO) first raised the issue in 2009 and since then, it has given several representations to various fora, including the National Human Rights Commission, the Parliamentary Committee on Subordinate Legislation and the Parliamentary Committee on Labour.
«In 2018, for the first time, the Ministry of Labour decided to address the issue when it came to know that female loco pilots were the worst affected and having pitiable working conditions and finally, in 2024, the committee has been set up,» Sanjay Pandhi, the working president of the IRLRO, said.
According to an office memorandum (OM) issued by the chief labour commissioner's office on April 18, the 13-member committee has the chief labour
