Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw slams Congress over allegations about locomotive pilot’s work | India News – Times of India

NEW DELHI: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw accused Congress on Wednesday of trying to demoralize the “railroad family” with “misinformation.” The secretary of state’s response in a social media post detailing the working conditions of locomotive pilots came after Congress launched an offensive against the working conditions of train drivers after Rahul Gandhi met some pilots on Friday.
Vaishnaw said that locomotive pilots are important members of the railway family and there are many disinformation and theatrical actions by the opposition to demotivate them.
In the detailed message, Vaishnaw said that the duty hours of loco pilots are being closely monitored and the rest is being accurately provided after the runs. “The average duty hours are being maintained within the prescribed hours. The average is less than 8 hours in June this year. Only during emergencies does the journey exceed the prescribed hours,” he said.
The locomotive cabs were in poor condition before 2014. The minister said that the cabs have been improved in the last 10 years with ergonomic seats and more than 7,000 of them have air conditioning. New locomotives are being produced with AC cabs.
Regarding the off-duty rest facility, the minister said that when a pilot completes a flight, he comes to the running room to rest if he is not at the headquarters. He added that running rooms were in poor condition before 2014 and now almost all (558) running rooms have air conditioning. The minister said that foot massagers are also provided in running rooms. “Incidentally, this was criticized by the Congress without the Working conditions of locomotive pilots,” he said.
Meanwhile, R Kumaresan, president of All India Loco Running Staff Association (South Zone) said they have put forward three demands: weekly rest should begin after the loco pilots exhaust the rest period they get after every eight-hour run, consecutive night shifts should be limited to only two and return to headquarters within 48 hours. “We are yet to get any response on these issues,” he said.