Pakistan Railway Minister suspends loco pilot, assistant for halting train to buy yoghurt

The Minister of Railways of Pakistan Azam Khan Swati has dismissed a train driver and his helper from their duty on Tuesday after they made an unscheduled halt of a train to buy yoghurt near Kahna railway station. The minister responded after a viral video resurfaced on social media revealed that a loco pilot stopped the train for purchasing yoghurt from a store, as per the Dawn. 

The video, which was recorded by a bystander, prompted a flurry of complaints upon it was uploaded. Following the incident, the Railway Minister acted quickly and directed the Pakistan Railways Lahore management to suspend driver Rana Mohammad Shehzad and his assistant Iftikhar Hussain. As per Dawn, the railways' department of Pakistan has been facing criticism lately due to various problems of accidents, safety regulation, as well as decreasing revenue. 

'Will not tolerate such events in the future': Railway minister Azam Khan Swati

In a statement, the railway minister said, “I will not tolerate such events in the future and allow anyone to use national assets for personal use,” the Daily Pakistan website reported. Furthermore, the statement added that Pakistan Railways is a national trust organisation, and the administration would not permit anybody else to ruin its reputation. 

Furthermore, Pakistan’s Ministry of Railways took Twitter and stated, “The Federal Minister for Railways said, "Strict action will be taken against any such incident in future. Pakistan Railways is a national trust and we will not allow it to be used for personal purposes." 

In addition to this, railway officials have issued tough guidelines for all staff. Drivers are prohibited from photographing or filming while operating the coaches. Officials were also told to maintain the watch of train crew members and take the punishment if anyone disobeyed the directives. As per the Dawn website, the Pakistan Railways had already prohibited locomotive drivers and helpers from using cellphones while on the job in December. 

(Image: Facebook/ Azam Khan Swati/ PTI/ Representative Image)