Cong leader urges Railways minister to announce relief package for porters

Congress leader and former legislator Pradeep Mathur has urged Railways Minister Piyush Goyal to announce a relief package for porters hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic or provide them a financial aid of at least Rs 10,000 per month.

In a letter written to the Union minister on Saturday, Mathur said "the government has announced a relief package for the unorganised sector, but no assistance has been given to railway porters."

"Following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockdown, the employment opportunities for the railway porters working as unorganised sectors has come to a halt. As a result of which their families are on the brink of starvation," the letter read.

There are nearly 25,000 licensed porters in Railways, the Congress leader said.

"It is quite essential that the porters must be given Rs 10,000 per month or any other type of relief package be announced for them," Mathur said in his letter.