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Sharing dais with INTUC leader Pradip Bhattacharya on the 26th national convention of National Federation of Indian Railwaymen — the biggest Railway union of the country.
Mamata said the Railways always keeps the interests of its 14 lakh employees as a priority.
Her general assurance failed to please the employees in attendance ¿ who had been demanding for a grade pay over the usual basic pay and creation of a separate zone for the Metro rail — currently under the Eastern Railways.
“Indian Railways is one of the most democratic departments,” Banerjee said. “All decisions are taken after our discussion with employees of all departments. We care about our employees and are soon going to implement the ‘House for All’ scheme, whereby every Railway employee — Group D to Group A — will get a flat.”
She said from now on, all Railway examinations are going to be conducted in a single day and in various regional languages to further help the aspirants.
Aiming the ruling party in Bengal, Banerjee said stopping trains at small pretexts and sabotaging is not the proper way to fight.
“Railway employees are as dedicated as the Armymen, they can give their lives for the proper functioning of Railways,” she said. “So there is no point trying to malign Railway services by opening pandrol clips and causing accidents. If the CPM has courage, they should face me in a proper political arena, they should fight politically.”
