Unions of ER and SER employees allege shortage of protective gear for staff, officials deny

Unions of Eastern and South Eastern Railway employees on Friday alleged there is no proper supply of masks, gloves and sanitizers required to protect the staff from being infected with COVID-19, while the authorities said that all frontline staff, working at present, have been provided with protective gear.

Eastern Railway Men's Union (ERMU) general secretary Amit Ghosh alleged that though the running staff, including drivers, guards and assistant drivers have been provided with protective equipment, while the staff at remote stations involved in day-to-day operations are yet to receive the equipment.

South Eastern Railway Men's Union (SERMU) leader Goutam Mukherjee alleged that all running staff have not been provided with safety kits such as masks, sanitizers and gloves. He said that the protective gear was being kept by the authorities at places such as crew booking lobbies.

"It will be better for the running staff to be provided with safety kits, which they can carry with them during work, to different places assigned," he said. But South Eastern Railway (SER) spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said that all frontline staff of the zone have been provided with the necessary safety equipment as required. "All the running staff and others involved in day-to-day operations are being provided with protective gear," he said.

Eastern Railway (ER) spokesman Nikhil Chakraborty said that there is no question of allowing any frontline staff to work without protective gear. Ghosh said that SER has already commenced producing masks and sanitisers in-house. "We have produced nearly 16,000 masks and 2,500 litres of sanitizer so far," he said.

He said that more masks and sanitizers are being produced at all the units in SER's various divisions on a war footing, to meet the needs of all employees engaged in themovement of essential goods. Chakraborty said that all staff engaged in freight movement have been working with protective gear. He added that engines of freight trains and other work areas are being regularly cleaned with prescribed disinfectants to ensure a germ-free environment.

He also said that trains used for ferrying staff to offices and railway hospitals are properly disinfected regularly and everyone has been asked to maintain hygiene and social distancing norms during travel and work. EMRU leader Ghosh, however, claimed that there is a shortage of masks and sanitisers in remote stations in the Sealdah-Lalgola division of ER.

"The union has supplied masks and sanitisers that we collected or bought from the market, to the workmen like maintenance staff and contractual workers at these places," Ghosh said. The SERMU had written to the general manager of SER seeking supply of safety kits to all loco pilots, assistant loco pilots and guards, Mukherjee said.

"These kits should contain hand sanitizers, soap, triple-layer N-95 mask, hand gloves and tissue papers," he said. The SER spokesman said that safety equipment has already been supplied to all running and frontline staff of the zone.

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