Orange Men and Women
13 lakh commuters travel in locals daily, yet do we ever wonder who ensures our safe travel? Have we ever been made to wonder?
Yes, it it just as astonishing for a track maintainer when he is suddenly startled by a slurry of spit thrown into his face as a train passes, bottles hurtling at him, sharp objects to dodge.
But how would we know? They have always been kept in the dark. Yet, they have to endanger their lives daily to keep us alive. How heart-breaking is that!
The Bollywood, the media and other mainstream sources often dive deep into bringing to light the fictional (or some non-fictional) “heroes”.
Horror movies are a genre of cinema but what about the real-life horrors taking place around us?
Does the loss of more than 1,000 track maintainers’ lives each year not count for any attention…any respect? Why don’t our track maintainers have their story told?
Recently, a track maintainer lost his life as he was kicked from a moving train and fell on the adjacent track where he was hit by the train coming in the opposite direction.
Their sweat and blood is shed on those very tracks that we shuttle through in overcrowded trains.
People are blamed for their plight but are we ever warned about ensuring their safety?
When every train has the facility of giving an announcement to its commuters how are the people to blame?
They set out to work wondering whether they might be fortunate enough to return home…
They often have to trek 20 kms carrying around 25 kgs of weight through a span of a single night, inspecting the raging waters under bridges, peering up at crumbling embankments and wondering if any of those towering trees groaning in the wind will crash across the tracks.
Their meals are had on the track itself irrespective of the weather as they are usually kilometres away from any platform. So, during torrential downpours what would be the condition of their food?
A lot of them are graduates and even postgraduates!
Recently, an IIT graduate was employed as a track maintainer but once that made news he was quickly removed and provided an easier job.
There is a rule that gang men must be kept on the lookout to ensure the safety of the rest but to cut down on employing people they have been removed and now they have no security whatsoever. What is the fate of the youth of our country?
When shall this end, you ask? When will we be made aware, you wonder?
Lok Raj Sangathan has started an awareness campaign among passengers about the plight of track maintainers and actions of passengers which endanger the safety of track maintainers across the city. Join us in ending this futile loss of precious human lives!
