'1K getting infected every day, lost 1,952 staff so far'

New Delhi: As the second wave of COVID-19 hit the nation, the national transporter - Indian Railways is facing a major challenge over its services. The CEO of Rail Board Suneet Sharma informed that since last March, as many as 1,952 employees have died and 1,000 are getting infected daily.

While asked, Sharma said, "Railways is not different from any other state or territory

and we are also getting COVID cases. We are in the business of transport and have to

move freight and people. Around 1,000 cases are reported daily."

Till April end, a total of 93,000 rail workers got affected by the coronavirus infection. The rail board chief also claimed that Indian Railways have further increased the beds in the rail hospitals and 4,000 beds currently occupied by railway staff and their families. Oxygen plants have also been augmented across these hospitals.

According to the All Indian Station Masters' Association (AISMA), 113 station masters have died in the pandemic so far, most of them in the second wave this year. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has lost 50 men so far.

The association and several railway divisions have demanded special insurance cover of Rs 50 lakh for each of them, as well as immediate vaccination of their cadre through letters to the Rail Board, the ministry source said.

The Railways is one of the largest employers in not just the country but the world with around 13 lakh employees. Hence, vaccinating its employees is the prime focus of the rail ministry. In several railway zones and divisions, Indian Railways' effort is to vaccinate employees in batches through coordination with state governments.

The Rail Board is also in talks with the state government over the rail occupancy. Recently, the national transporter had suspended a slew of Rajdhani, Duronto, Shatabdi and other special trains.

The West Bengal government also suspended the local train services from May 7. Further, many states have requested for making RT-PCR test report mandatory to travel to these states, the Rail Board chief told the Millennium Post. However, did not mention the names of the states.

Despite the crunch in manpower, Indian Railways is in the effort to transport Oxygen across the nation. So far, 75 Oxygen Express have already completed their journey and delivered nearly 4,700 tonnes

of liquid medical oxygen (LMO) in more than 295 tankers to various states across

the country since April 19, Sharma said.