Mumbai: Railways lines up staffers for COVID-19 shots

The railway staffers, including RPF personnel, will be immunised at railway hospitals across the country. File pic

With vaccine delivery kicking off across the country today, who should get immunised on priority in Mumbai's public transport bodies? While the railways has drawn up a list of ten categories of staffers exposed to a constantly changing environment, BEST committee members say the driving and electric staff deserve to be inoculated first.

Medical department staff, safaiwalas, employees from electrical, engineering work and those engaged in staff quarter maintenance, ticket checkers, station masters, train drivers, guards, RPF, welfare inspectors and booking clerks will get preference as far Indian Railways is concerned. Also, eight categories of non-frontline employees - accounts, signalling, permanent way, general administration, mechanical, electrical department, and ministerial staff - could be considered for immunisation in initial phases.

A senior official explained, "Those categories that come in direct contact with frequently changing environments have been taken as the main consideration. These staff can be taken in the first or second phase depending on the changing environment."

Vaccination of railways' frontline workers will be done at railway hospitals across the country. Officials said the doctors and staff at these facilities have already started preparing for the drive. Central Railway and North Western Railway have had 4,838 and 3,733 - the highest numbers in zones - cases of COVID-19 in employees.

BEST committee members said the staff in transport and electricity wings should also be considered as frontline staff. In the absence of local trains for all, they said, BEST buses have been running without a break since the lockdown took effect on March 22. The undertaking has so far seen 2,486 employees affected by the virus.

"BEST bus staff should be considered for vaccination on a priority basis as frontline staff," committee member Sunil Ganacharya said. Opposition leader Ravi Raja said those from the electrical department should also be considered on a par and listed for vaccination.