Mumbai's 'Rail Roko' protest strangles city's lifeline: 10 developments

Mumbai rail roko. Picture courtsey/mid-day reader

Scores of agitated students demanding jobs in railways on Tuesday blocked rail traffic, including suburban services between Matunga and Dadar stations, causing difficulties to lakhs of commuters. Officegoers and students were stranded for hours in trains which bore the brunt of the agitation. Here are the ten biggest developments from the protest:

1. Students of the All India Act Apprentice Association, who had passed the apprentice exam, launched a 'rail roko' protest on Tuesday. The students demanded full-time jobs in the Indian Railways and the scrapping of the rail general manager's quota (GM quota) of filling in 20 per cent vacancies. The protesting students held placards displaying their demands.

2. Around 400 to 500 students from several states, who had done an apprenticeship with the Indian Railways and wanted permanent jobs, came out and sat on railway tracks at about 6.45 am.

3. The protest mostly affected the railway tracks between Matunga and Dadar station on the central line. The disruption forced the Central Railway (CR) to stop the suburban as well as express train services on the affected section - between Matunga and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai for some hours.

4. The sudden agitation also affected the delivery services of 'Dabbawalas', the famed tiffin-carriers of Mumbai. Mumbai Dabbawala Association's spokesman Subhash Talekar, in a statement, said, "Due to the local trains being halted, our deliveries are stuck in trains. We are awaiting the resumption of services of the Central Railway."

5. More than 4.5 million commuters were badly hit for the second consecutive day follwing a strike called on Monday by drivers of cab aggregators and app-based taxis that disrupted in Mumbaikars' schedules.

6. The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST), the transport wing of the city civic body, was running additional bus services to help the stranded passengers and office-goers reach their destinations.

7. In view of the agitation, Central Railway authorities swung into action and said a fresh round of exams to recruit the apprentices will be held soon.

8. Attempting to restore normalcy, the local police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disrupt the protestors. Some retaliated by pelting stones at the police.

9. The protest wasn't completely peaceful.As many as 11 personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) including a senior police inspector posted at Dadar and two women constables suffered injuries in stone-pelting by the agitating students. Two persons were arrested in connection with the incident, a police official said.

10. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal informed the students that the Indian Railways is currently in the midst of a massive recruitment drive to fill over 90,000 Group C and Group D posts. He urged them to apply for these jobs, the last date of which is March 31.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the Legislative Assembly that the railway administration had initiated talks with students. With a promise of further discussions, the agitators finally called off their protest at 10:30 AM. All railway services were quickly restored to normalcy.

With Inputs From Agencies

Also Read: Devendra Fadnavis: Railways In Talks With Youth Who Protested For Jobs

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