TMC to set up national bodies for rail, bank employees

Trinamool Congress will set up all India-level federations for railways and bank employees.

Mukul Roy, vice president of Trinamool Congress, said on Sunday that Indian Railways Trinamool Men's Federation will be formed that will function in an all-India level and under it, there will be zonal bodies for different divisions of the Indian Railways.

There will be Eastern Railway Trinamool Men's Congress comprised with employees from the Eastern Railway. Similarly, the federation for the employees of South-Eastern Railway will be South Eastern Railwaymen's Trinamool Congress. The name for the units in North Frontier Railway and Metro Railway would be North Frontier Men's Trinamool Congress and Metro Rail Trinamool Men's Congress, he said.

Roy said: "In Indian Railways, there is a National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR). We all know that this is of the Congress. Again All India Railwaymen's Federation (AIRF) is of Leftists and socialists. Similarly, we have also decided to set up one federation in an all-India level."

The decision to form national-level federation in Railways and for the banking sector comes at the time when the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who is also a former Railway Minister, raising her voice against each and every "anti-people" steps taken by the Centre.

Roy further said that there will also be All India Bank and Insurance Employees' Trinamool Congress Federation for the banking sector.

Employees of all nationalised banks and co-operative banks could become the member of the federation, said Roy, adding that Banerjee has formed a committee to look into the formation and functioning of the federations. The committee is comprised of senior Trinamool Congress leaders MP Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, MP Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, MP Dinesh Trivedi and MLA Manas Bhuniya.

"We have already started the preparation and AK Singh of INTTUC has been given the charge to look after the matters related to registration," Roy said.

"There are 18 lakh employees in Indian Railways. But the railways have lost its sovereignty. There was no separate Railway budget after 92 years. The workers in the grass-root level are well aware that for employees in factories, Mamata Banerjee is much more progressive than those from the Left," said Roy adding that the federation will function keeping the ideology of Banerjee. Negotiation and discussion would be the method to be taken up by the federation instead of going for politics of strikes and bandhs.

It may be mentioned that Trinamool Congress has been criticising the Centre's callousness to look after the Indian Railway's properly. Tracks have not been maintained resulting in accidents and late running of trains has become a regular affair. The quality of food supplied in trains has deteriorated over the year and no step has been taken to improve it. Banerjee had over and again spoke about a comprehensive planning for safety and security of passengers. Instead of addressing the important issues, Indian Railways have taken up only schemes to augment its revenue. Minimum money spent to improve railways, accident, and infrastructure.

For banking sectors as well, the CM had raised her voice as there are no banks in most villages in the country. People need to travel several kilometres to reach a bank and the problem had come to light following demonetisation of high value notes.