The Palakkad divisional conference of Dakshin Railway Employees’ Union (DREU) will be held in Mangalore on June 28.

Addressing presspersons here on Wednesday, Mr P. Mathew Syriac, Secretary of DREU Divisional Committee, said that the divisional conference is being held to further strengthen the struggle against the measures to privatise Indian Railways.

Stating that there are around 2.8 lakh vacancies in the Indian Railways, Mr Syriac said the railway administration is not taking any measures to fill up these vacancies. He alleged that the posts are surrendered without adhering to any criterion.

“Creation of new posts and filling up of vacancies are not done in proportion to the increase in the number of trains, lines and traffic. New booking and reservation counters are not opened to meet the increase in passenger traffic,” he said.

This leads to the denial of quick and efficient service to the passengers. As a consequence, arguments and quarrels between counter staff have become regular events.

Mr Syriac said that nearly 40 per cent of the functions of Indian Railways is under contract system. This is one of the reasons for the railways losing its efficiency.

“Privatisation of coach cleaning, watering, catering, station cleaning, ticket booking, etc is affecting the passengers. In the name of public-private partnership, the land and infrastructure of Indian Railways are being handed over to private monopolies,” he said.

Nearly 200 delegates representing nine branches of DREU will attend the conference, he added.

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