NGO meets rly officials against baggage contract

Nagpur: Even as the Nagpur railway station coolies are not ready to accept entry of a private company into baggage lifting business, the Central Railway Nagpur has shown readiness to amend the work order after intervention by NGO ‘Together We Can’ that has taken up cudgels for the 147-odd porters.
The team of NGO consisting of Anasuya Kale Chhabrani, Joseph George, and Ashish Nagpure met the senior divisional commercial manager (SrDCM) Krishnath Patil on Wednesday and picked up holes in the work order released to appoint Bookbaggage.com India Pvt Ltd, Gurugram.
The Together We Can leader George said, “We told the railway officials coolies will not accept any payment from the private firm. It will simply rob them of their status as quasi railway employees. Coolies should get paid for their work by the passengers directly.”
The work order also doesn’t mention anything about the safety of luggage as to who would be responsible in case of theft and mismanagement. “The railway officials were ready to amend the work order indicating the agreement with the private company was done in a haste. The Central Railway should have invited bids from local parties too before taking a decision,” said George.
He added as per the Railway Board guidelines on ‘Innovative Ideas Scheme’, firstly such projects should be implemented with its own manpower or through railway public sector or outside agency like NGOs, self-help groups (SHGs) and cooperative societies. “The railway decision will be challenged soon,” said George.