Metro staff threaten to intensify protests over pending demands

The non-executive staff of Delhi Metro, including train operators, threatened to intensify their agitation from next Monday if their long-standing demands of raising their pay grades are not met.

Meanwhile, Staff Council secretary Anil Kumar Mahato said that any disruption in service would be the "sole responsibility of the management."

Earlier, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had issued show-cause notice to 15 staff, including Mahato, and cancelled their annual increments for the protests.

"The non-executive staff have started a staging sit-in protests at multiple stations, such as Dwarka, Yamuna Bank, Badarpur, Shahdara, Qutub Minar, and Vishwavidyalaya. The staff are sitting on the platforms with black bands on their on their arms," Mahato said.

Another member of the staff council said: "The non-executive staff will gradually stop performing their duties from July 21 and completely cease operating from July 24, if their demands are not met."

"The DMRC management has intervened to restrain the agitation and even held a meeting of the Staff Council, which is spearheading the protests at the Metro headquarters," said a DMRC official, who did not wish to be named.

Meanwhile, some sources in the DMRC management claimed that the agitating staff were trying to "push their personal agenda to cause disruption."

However, there have been no reports of disturbance in Metro operations due to the protest so far.

According to a Staff Council member, all 9,000 non-executive staff – which includes train operators and station crew – have extended their support to the agitation.

A press statement by DMRC read: "The second demand pertains to action initiated by the Management against some of the Staff Council members and employees on account of grave acts of misconduct/indiscipline and acts of omission and commission in violation of DMRC Conduct Rules.

"The issues are purely incidental to the individuals and the attempt on their part to push for their personal agenda, and invoke others to cause disruption is uncalled for."

The press statement also said that the employees have been misled by "these individuals" and an appeal has been issued for all employees to stay calm, hoping that they are not misguided by such elements.

The Management is taking all due care to run Metro services, so that the public of Delhi and NCR, are not subjected to inconvenience, the press statement further read.