New Delhi. A group of women train drivers who suffered miscarriages while on duty has said that the Railway Board should issue guidelines to transfer such women employees to light or stable duty jobs in offices in line with the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017. Should be prepared. He has written a letter to the Railway Board saying that the law prevents an employer from involving a pregnant woman in work of difficult nature as it may pose a threat to her pregnancy. Women train drivers say that entering the engine cab is a difficult task in itself as the height of the handle of the cab ladder is about six feet from the ground level. The loco pilot said that this kind of work is prohibited for pregnant women.
A woman loco pilot who has suffered multiple miscarriages due to her harsh working conditions said, “The job of a loco pilot has been notified as strenuous in the Railway Act. Section 4 of the Maternity Benefit Act clearly states that women employees cannot be asked to do jobs of strenuous nature.” She said, “It is easy to come out and get into the engine cab at railway stations, but in railway yards or areas outside the station, it is extremely difficult because of the height from the ground. To reach the first step of the ladder, we have to hold the handle of the cab ladder tightly and pull ourselves up taking all our weight on both hands.”
Women loco pilots have to do heavy work
At the same time, another woman loco pilot said that she also has to do many other rigorous tasks as a loco pilot or Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP). He said that ‘in case of chain pulling, those working as ALPs have to go to the concerned compartment even late in the night to get it rectified. There have been cases in which women lost their balance while running towards the ALP compartment and fell on the ground in the dark and got injured. The woman train driver said, ‘If a cattle hits the engine and gets stuck in it, it is the job of the ALP to come out of the engine cab and take out the trapped cattle or its body parts. It is physically tiring and emotionally distressing work.
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Women loco pilots are taking leave without pay
Some women loco pilots who have enjoyed motherhood say that they went on leave without pay at the beginning of their pregnancy because as per the law they get maternity leave only eight weeks before the expected delivery date. A woman train driver who recently became a mother said, ‘We request our superiors to put us on light jobs, but they refuse saying that there is no such policy.’ Railway trade unions and loco pilots’ bodies have written to the Railway Board demanding stable jobs for such women for a certain period before and after delivery as per the Act.
Tags: Indian Railways, Indian Railway news, Indian Railways, Indian women
FIRST PUBLISHED: May 23, 2024, 23:09 IST